Jiyu
by Smart Angel
Summary: She didn't have a choice. It was either that or... No, she would never let that happen. Yoh was going to fix it. Yoh was going to fix it, she just knew it. She gave him the clue, so he would save her. He would do it. YohXAnnaXHao COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A young girl, around16 or 17 years of age, was walking on the dark streets of late night Tokyo. Her long blonde hair looked gray on the little light the desert street provided and her skin was so pale you would swear you were seeing a ghost. She wore a black coat, which seemed one size bigger and equally dark jeans, which were almost the right size. Her hair was down and around her neck were a blue Buddhist necklace as well as another simple chain with a blue stone.

She was carrying her groceries and didn't show any emotion, different from other people in Tokyo, who were laughing and playing in the snow, happy because the Holydays were near. But not the girl; She just walked on the dark cold street with no expression on her face whatsoever.

There was a spirit of another young girl floating behind her. By her clothes she seemed to have been alive 600 years before. She floated behind the young woman, looking around with curious eyes. But suddenly she stopped "walking."

"What's the matter?" she living girl asked, looking at the spirit, without showing any emotions.

"Nothing… Is just… I just had a weird feeling." The spirit replied.

Rolling her eyes, the young woman continued to walk. This was a usual thing for them. She would have a weird feeling and then something would happen.

Soon they heard a beeping sound. They already knew what it was, knew what it meant. So that was what she felt.

"The third battle! Finally! Who are we fighting?" asked the spirit exited, now back to her usual, cheerful and childish self.

The young woman raised the sleeves of her coat, reveling a black oracle bell.

"Horo-Horo" A smirk appeared on her lips, as she read out loud the name on the oracle bell.

"Horo-Horo?" the spirit was laughing hard. The girl knew that now that the spirit was back to her usual self it would take some time until silence that she treasured was back. It always took some time to make that spirit shut up.

"Don't underestimate him." She warned, trying to ignore the fact that the spirit was acting like an annoying 6 year old little girl "His name may be weird, but he is a strong shaman. He is one of the old contestants. And because he is a shaman that uses ice he will be in advantage, considering the snow."

"And how do you think the battle will turn out?" now the spirit was a little worried.

"He may be strong, but he's still not stronger than us."

"So this means…"

"We already won." Completed the sentence. Then she looked up at the sky "Horo-Horo. It's going to be interesting to fight an old acquaintance."

"So what do we do now? Are we going to change out daily routine?"

"No. We will do what we always do." She answered, walking again "Go home, prepare dinner, eat, take a bath, sleep, wake up, train and start all over again."

"Whatever you say, Anna…"

**Prologue Finished**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**I do not own Shaman King. I'm working on that thought, I hired a lawyer and we are going to work on getting the rights.**

At Yoh Asakura's home, the old contests of the Shaman Fight were enjoying a nice dinner together. They were discussing the Shaman Fight, the new rules and the new idea… The one about new competitors.

It was a nice night, they were all having fun. All except for Yoh, who was still thinking about that day.

"What a crazy idea those damn Patchs had!" Horo-Horo started " 'There shall be new competitor for the Shaman Fight.'! What do they think we are?! Amateurs?! Aren't we enough?!"

"Many people died during the break, idiot. They need more competitors so we can continue the tournament. And why are you complaining? The old ones, like us, passed the first stage automatically!" Ren was losing his patience.

The shamans had changed a lot in the past years. Ren didn't have the weird hairdo anymore; he kept it down, and it had grown a little. He was also stronger, thanks to his hard training during the break. His face features had changes only a little bit and his golden eyes were still the same. He did, however, grown a bit softer during the years, but not a lot.

Horo-Horo didn't change his hair like Ren. But he had grown a lot. He still had that weird look on his eyes, and still had little patient with anything and anyone. He was for some time thinking about growing a beard, but decided against it.

Lyserg was the one who changed the most. He didn't look like a girl anymore, but like a charming man. With his polite ways, gentle smile and attitude, and a powerful aura around him, he won the hearts of many girls every day.

Manta didn't change a lot. He just a little bit, making him instead of 80 cm, 1 m.

Chocolove had put on some weight and shaved his head. He still dreamed of being a comedian someday, and most of the times he had a smile on his face. He still tried telling jokes on regular bases, but even after so many years he did not improve.

Yoh also changed. He had grown and his face looked more like the one of a man, and not a boy. His hair was longer, but his body hadn't changed that much. Unlike Ren and Horo-Horo, he had no muscles, even thought he was strong. He was still a very gentle person, but something changed. When someone looked at him you could pick up signs that he was extremely tired and unhappy. He doesn't smile as much anymore, and when he does, it was a fake one or carrying too much sadness.

Yoh hadn't changed on the exterior as much as he had on the interior. That day changed his life and his being. He would only go back to his usual, laid back self once everything went back to how it was before that day… And that may never happen.

"What's the matter Yoh?" asked Faust, when he noticed Yoh wasn't saying anything. That caused all the attention go from the conversation to Yoh.

"I was just thinking…" he started, sad "About Anna… And that day."

"Yoh-kun…" Manta was worried about his friends, since that day he wasn't the same.

"We know it must be hard for you Yoh-kun…" started Lyserg.

"But it's been three years! Try to get it out of your mind!" Ren completed, trying to help his friend in his own unique way.

"It's not something I can simply get it out of my mind, Ren! Even if it's been three years! I miss her…! And… Is hard to believe how it all happened." His voice carried a sad tune, and his eyes looked down.

"Dude! It's been three years! Cry the Sanzu river, build a bridge and get over it!" Horo-Horo was already very upset that day, hearing his friends complaining and crying again about that day didn't help his mood. "She is far away! And on opposite side! You know she is not going to fight with us! Forget her and get a new girlfriend! I bet she already forgot you and moved on!"

"That's not fair, Horo-Horo!" Yoh yelled, standing up in a moment of rage. How could his friend say something like that?! He knew what happened! Why did he said that? "She didn't go because she wanted to! She is not going through all this because she wants to! You know that!"

Horo-Horo was surprised. He knew that this was a delicate subject, but he didn't thought Yoh would take what he said so seriously. It had been three years since Anna left. In his head, there was no reason why Yoh should attach himself to her.

_Man… He must really love her. _Thought the ainu. Yeah, that must be the reason.

"Horo-Horo… What you said wasn't nice." Said Chocolove, serious "I would never joke with that subject."

"He is right, Horo-Horo. You know what that does to Yoh, you know how he feels about it." Manta agreed.

"Idiot, look what you did!" Even Ren knew better than to say such thing.

"I just wish I could see her again." Yoh sat back down, the anger gone and the sadness back.

"You know that's close to impossible, right Yoh-san?"

"I know Faust, but… I still have a little bit of hope." He smiled sadly. Just one little bit of hope. At least this part of Yoh didn't change.

"Why, Yoh-kun?" asked Manta.

"She told me we would meet again if and when the Shaman Fight returned." Yoh explained, looking up, remembering the last time he saw Anna "But I don't know what that means."

"Yoh, man… I'm so…" but Horo-Horo's apologizes were interrupted by a biping sound.

Everyone but Yoh turned to Horo-Horo, who angrily raised his sleeves and turned his attention to the oracle bell. It read _You have a message. _He pressed the buttons to read the message, and his mouth fell to the floor when he read the name of his next opponent.

"Who are you fighting, Horo-Horo?" asked Lyserg when he noticed his friend's reaction.

No answer came from him.

"Horo-Horo?" called Chocolove, looking at his friend surprised. Since when Horo-Horo reacts like that when he reads the name of an opponent?

Horo-Horo didn't answer. Instead, he called the friend who he was fighting a few seconds ago:

"Yoh…"

"Nani?" he raised his head to see his friend.

"I think your wish is about to come true." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself." And he showed his oracle bell to everyone.

Their reaction was the same as Horo-Horo. Was there something wrong with their eyes?

"It can't be true…" the small boy said.

"So that's what she meant." The Chinese concluded.

"Anna-chan…" Yoh smiled, feeling the urge to cry.

On the Oracle Bell, the name of Horo-Horo's opponent read _Kyouyama Anna._

Anna and her spirit guardian were on their way home. Kanka was dancing and singing a stupid song she learned while watching some kids playing. She was trying to get Anna to sing along, but needless to say, that wasn't going very well.

"Come on Anna!" Kanka smiled "Is not that hard, sing with me!"

"No." Anna didn't even bother looking at her.

"Please? Pretty Please? Pretty Please with Cherry on top?" she asked, still dancing around Anna.

"What makes you think that I would sing this stupid song with you?" she asked, finally turning to see the face of the spirit.

Kanka stopped and looked at Anna, with no smile. Then she came back to her old self.

"Because it's fun!"

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is!"

"I like you better when you keep your mouth shut!"

"Come on, is easy!" insisted Kanka "It's like this: … No, wait. I forgot the lyrics. Wait just a second…"

Anna rolled her eyes. She just continued walking down the streets, holding the groceries' bags, almost reaching the house. She was already used to this kind of behavior. If it wasn't a stupid song, it was a candy she wanted Anna to taste or a toy she thought it was pretty. Sometimes she just felt like talking.

"Please? Pretty Please? Pretty Please with Cherry on top?" Kanka insisted again.

"If that didn't work the first time, what makes you think it will work this time?" she was very annoyed.

"Oh come on…" Kanka stopped and looked at Anna "Did you felt that?"

"Yes. He is here." Anna answered, looking at the house.

They went inside, and weren't surprise to see him, sitting on Anna's couch.

"Oh, Welcome Home, Anna." Said the intruder, looking at her "I see you did the groceries. That's good, you have no food here. Well… What are we having for dinner?"

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprise you are at my house."

"Of course not."

"About your question… I'm not going to cook for you. I am _not _your _slave._" She was mad, you could tell.

"You're right." He said with a smirk "You're not my slave. You are my servant."

"_Don't call me that!_"

"Or what?"

Anna looked at the intruder, inside her eyes flames of hate burned for that person.

"I hate you." Said Anna, going to the kitchen.

"You always say that, but truth to be told, you are going to be my wife someday." The intruder followed Anna to the kitchen, with a smile on his lips.

"That will never happen. Not even in a million years!"

"We can wait that long, you know." The intruder was still smiling. "Is that all you have to wait?"

He noticed that Anna was already having enough of his teasing, and left, leaving her alone to cook their dinner. Kanka was checking the house.

"Idiot… I hate that guy" Anna murmured to herself, while cutting some vegetables "Some day I will kill you Hao."

To be continue

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^^ To the ones who don't like OC, don't worry, Kanka won't appear that much. I only needed some way to explain something on later chapters, and creating a character was the best way I could think of doing it. I mean, it would be more interesting to read Anna explaining something to Kanka than to read just some boring paragraphs. She does have a background, and I will cover that in a future chapter (mainly because, if I do succeed on getting the rights of Shaman King, I have to be worth it. I mean, Takei creates a past to every single character, even if they show up only once in the manga or are pretty useless. So I need to do the same, right?)

Please, send me reviews. I realize I made many grammar mistakes, sorry for that. ^^" I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and soon I intend to finish translating the next one.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**My lawyer and I finally found Takei! Now we just have to convince him to sell the rights to me, and then we will have many YohXAnna and many Hanna moments and a sequel to Shaman King!**

**To the ones wondering, this is a translation of a fic that was originally published in 2006. I didn't know the ending of Shaman King (and didn't expect the KZB), so I combined the ending of the Anime (the one where the Shaman Fight is cancelled) and the story of the manga to create this fanfic. I ignored the timeline between FNU and Shaman King, and had to cut some characters out. Those include: Every member of Hao's group, ****Iron Maiden Jeanne, The Gandharas, Ryu (I needed to cut someone from Yoh's team, and Ryu was the one that people liked the least.) and Tamao.**

* * *

Everyone was silent. Anna was participating on the Shaman Fight. Now everything made sense. If Anna was fighting on the Shaman Fight, then of course they were going to meet again. She probably planned three years ago, the night before she went with Hao. But… That was three years ago. Was she still on their side? That was the burning question on everyone's minds. Well, everyone's except for Yoh's.

To him that didn't matter. In fact, it didn't even cross his mind. He was going to see Anna again! Finally! After three long years he would finally be able to see his beloved again! He was happy again! And how could he not be? He was going to see Anna again!

"Do you think she switched sides?" Ren finally asked the question on everyone's minds.

"Can't say for sure." Horo-Horo answered, looking at his oracle bell "It's been three years since she had to go with him. Maybe she changed sides."

"We'll have to be careful." The British green haired boy said.

"Wait. What are you guys talking about?" Yoh was both confused and angry. How could they even consider such a thing? How many times had Anna saved them and helped them? She would never go along with Hao by will! Never!

Yoh's sudden question made everyone remember how delicate the situation was.

"Yoh-kun… It's been three years and…" Manta tried to think of a way to explain to his friend, without making it sound too bad.

"She is very much like Hao, Yoh. There is a possibility that he was able to persuade her to change sides." Ren explained.

"By her own will. Not… The way it happened three years ago." Lyserg added;

"She would never change her mind! She promised me that when we met again she would still be by our side inside her heart! She promised!"

"Why do you think that she would keep that promise, Yoh?" Chocolove asked, finally saying something after they found out Anna was Horo-Horo's next competitor.

"She kept her promise about the Shaman Fight," he smiled sadly "So I know she kept this one as well. I don't need proofs, I know Anna. I know she's still with us. I trust her"

Yes, he trusted Anna. Anna trained him. If it wasn't for her, he would be dead. Anna helped him for years. She told him about Hao during the first Shaman Fight. And she made a huge sacrifice for him, for his sake! He trusted his Anna.

Feeling too depress to continue the discussion, Yoh excused himself and went up the stairs.

"It must be hard for Yoh-san." Said Faust, when he knew Yoh was upstairs.

"True." Agreed Lyserg "First there was that day, then he couldn't see Anna-san for three years. And now that he finally has some news about her, we start talking about her as if she was our enemy."

"But we still can't rule out that possibility." Ren interrupted. "Even if it hurts to consider, we still have to. Anna is a powerful shaman and a powerful itako. And Hao has a new version of the Cho Senji Ryakketsu, if he teaches to her she will be even more powerful. We can't know for sure if she is on our side until the fight."

"By the way, when is going to be the fight?" the only American in the house asked.

"In two days, by the park…11h56min PM." Horo-Horo answered looking at the oracle bell "What the hell is the problem with the Patchs?! Can't they go for midnight or 11h30min PM?! Why the random hours?!"

"Do you think we should let Yoh-san go?" Faust asked, looking at Manta "If by the off chance Anna is on Hao's side then he will be extremely depressed. Even more than he is now."

"That's true. I don't think we should let him go. I mean, I can't see my best friend more hurt."

"If he goes he will not cheer for you, Horo-Horo." Ren said, looking at the ainu.

"I don't care about that! Our friend is hurt, that's what matters!" Horo-Horo yelled at his friends.

"Maybe we should go first, and find out if Anna-san is on our side. In case she is not, we think of a way to break the news to Yoh-kun." Lyserg, the smarter of them all, was already making a plan "We should also try to convince Anna-san to come back to our side. One of us should stay here and not let Yoh-kun go to the battle. And in case she is on our side we will try to bring her here, so at the least they will meet." He looked at everyone "Hao can't stop her from visiting him."

"So either way, Yoh-kun wins." Manta agree. "I'll stay behind."

"It's a plan then."

Upstairs, Yoh was looking at the stars. He was thinking about Anna. After three years he would see her again. After all that happen… It seemed so unreal.

How much he missed her. He tried to picture Anna in his mind, the way her blond hair would look now, and her pale skin. Had she changed as much as he did? Was she still the same Anna he knew and loved? The one he missed? Had she been treated well? Was she eating right? Anna couldn't cook very well, he knew that.

He smiled sadly. What would be the first thing he would do once they saw each other? Would he run to her and kiss her or would he just stand there and look at her like an idiot? What would _she_ do? Would she try to hide her emotions as usual or would she slap him for being an idiot three years ago?

The smile disappeared. Yoh was an idiot. It was his fault. She sacrificed herself for him. He should have done something. If he had just spoken up, then she wouldn`t be in this situation. She did for him. Couldn`t he have figured out a way out? A way to help her?

And his friends… They knew what happened! How could they doubt her?!

"Anna-chan…" he said to himself, sighing.

"Yoh-dono…" the spirit of the Samurai appeared by his master's side "Are you okay?"

"I am, Amidamaru. Is just… I'm surprised, I guess." He explained, still looking at the stars.

"Surprised because they don't trust Anna-dono?"

"How can they not trust her? After all she did for us…! For… Me?"

"I know it's unexpected. But Hao-san is still the enemy, and you guys still have to stop him. That's why they said those things. No need to worry about it now." Amidamaru smiled at his friend "Yoh-dono, if you don't mind me saying, I think you should just sleep, so you can be awake to cheer Horo-Horo on. And…"

"I'm not going to cheer for Horo-Horo." Yoh said "I know that if Anna loses then I don't have to fight against her, and Hao won't have a partner for the Shaman Fight, but… If she loses, I may never see her again."

"But I thought that when you become the Shaman King you would…"

"I am! But… For some reason, I still want to cheer for her."

"If that's what your heart says, Yoh-dono…"

"It is…" And with that, he went to bed.

* * *

"So Anna… Do you know when the third battle is?" Hao asked, taking a bite of his meal.

"Nope. And even if it did, I wouldn't tell you Hao. It's none of your business!" Answered Anna, angry like always.

She had just finished preparing hers and Hao's dinner. This was something very common to them. A little before the Shaman Fight started, and after they had finished their special training to become stronger, Hao "bought" the house for Anna and Kanka. Unlike Hao's old followers, Anna had the "freedom" to chose between sleeping in a camp like Hao or in a house. Needless to say, she would do anything to stay far away from the onmyouji. She chose the house. Unfortunately it didn't make much of a difference; Hao would always go there to eat something or spend the night.

Hao liked to give Anna comfort. In his mind, it was only a matter of time before he became the Shaman King and Anna his Shaman Queen. He liked to give her a good impression of how much of a great husband he was going to be.

Kanka had finished checking the house for random spirits that may have got in, and went to join the two of them for dinner.

"What you guys doing?" she asked smiling.

"Hello Kanka." Hao replied, also with a pleasant smile. "How are you today?"

"Very well, thank you for asking Hao-sama."

"Don't put _sama_ after his name!" Anna stood up, looking at Kanka disgusted "He doesn't _deserve_ that much respect!"

"Sorry Anna. But technically he is our master and…"

"He is _not_ our master. I am _not_ his slave!" she was even more disgusted.

"If I wanted to, you would be." Hao smirked "But I'm too nice for that. I like to give you a bit more freedom. Thought I do request that you stay by my side and fight on my side, like my followers."

"I hate you." Anna said as she sat down. One day she was going to punch him so hard that all his teeth were going to fall off and he would never have that stupid smirk on his face again.

"So… What were you two talking about?" Kanka asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, we were just talking about Anna's third battle." Hao said in a as-a-matter-of-fact voice.

"You mean the one that is going to be in two days against…"

"Shut it!" Anna looked at the spirit. How could she be so stupid?

"So you do know…" Hao smirked again. It was always easy to find out what Anna was hiding by Kanka. "Who is going to be against, again?"

"Don't think about anything, Kanka" Anna knew Hao would try to find out by reading Kanka's mind. "Just don't think! To you it's easy!"

Both shamans looked at Kanka. Both had the power to read minds, and the spirit knew they were looking deep into hers at that moment. Looking for a slip. It happened often, so she was already used to it. Hao tried to find out something Anna didn't want him to know, and to find out he looked inside Kanka's mind. Anna would tell her not to think about it, but of course, that only made it harder not to think about it.

The thing she could never figure out was, why wouldn't Hao just order Anna to tell him? He knows that if he gives her an order, no matter what, she won't be able to refuse. And no matter how much the two of them hated the word, there was no denying: Anna was Hao's servant.

"_Third Fight against Usui Horokeu, in two days._" They both said at the same time. She didn't even notice that she had let herself slip! They were good.

"I'm sorry Anna." Kanka said, looking at the blond itako.

"So you are going to fight that stupid friend of my brother's?" Hao smiled as he looked at Anna "That will be very interesting."

"No, it won't." Anna had started to get the dishes. She would do anything to avoid staying close to Hao at this point.

"I'm going to watch the fight." He said, when she was at the kitchen door. Her reaction was priceless. Anna Kyouyama, the itako with the heart made of ice almost let the dishes drop to the floor.

"What?!" she turned to look at him.

"I'm going to watch your fight. I want to see it." Hao turned his head down and then looked up "I have the right to watch this fight, haven't I, Anna dear?" he laughed and stretched his back "Besides… I want to see my little brother. I miss him."

"You son of a…" Anna was interrupted by the look on Hao's face. He looked beyond angry. He never looked at het that way.

"My decision is final. You can't do anything to stop me. I'm going to see the fight." Anna knew she no longer had a choice. When he spoke like that she couldn't disobey him, no matter how much she wanted to.

With that said, he stood up and went upstairs; to the room he called his.

Anna was left alone doing the dishes. How ironic. Kyouyama Anna, doing dishes. Would Yoh and the others laugh if they saw her that way? In the old days Anna would make the others do the dishes for her. She would just stand around and order them. And even thought they complained, Anna knew they didn't mind. Not that much. It wasn't as bad for them as it was for her.

When she was left alone her mind wondered off to how things were before, and what happened that day. She missed Yoh. She missed him so much. She wanted nothing more but to be with him once again. But… Part of her was afraid that he wasn't waiting for her. That he had moved on.

She did it for him. She promised they would see each other again. So he had to wait for her, didn't he? He loved her! She did all this so one day they could be together once again. That was the only way out.

Yes, he was waiting for her. Anna knew it. If he wasn't, then he wasn't the one she loved.

But even with that in mind, the loneliness did not go away.

Two days went by quickly. To Anna things went like usual. She trained and avoided Hao. To Horo-Horo and the others things were a bit more complicated. They didn't want Yoh to go to the battle. The plan had changed. All of them but Horo-Horo were going to stay behind. Horo-Horo would say he was going to the market to buy groceries, and the others would distract Yoh. Horo-Horo would fight and figure out if Anna was or not on Hao's side, then tell the others.

* * *

**To be continue…**

**Okay, so this chapter would go on until the moment Yoh and Anna meet each other again. But the scene where they try to distract Yoh doesn't exist on the original fanfic, and I wanted to publish this today (Sunday, April 19,2009), so I decided to put that to the next chapter. This way I can also create the scene with more patience.**

**Maybe you guys noticed some difference on the writing of this chapter and the previous one. Before I was translating everything word for word, but no I decided I was only going to translate the main events, writing the way I do now. **

**Hope you liked this chapter, and please, review! =D**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Takei has refused to give up the rights of Shaman King. The guy is really stybborn. u_u So it still belongs to him, not me. But someday I'll get the rights and then I'll proudly announce in a fanfic "SHAMAN KING BELONGS TO ME!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Until that day… I guess you have to get satisfied with this. **

Yoh was looking at the stars excited. All his friends were getting ready for something, and he knew what it was: Horo-Horo's battle. He would finally see his Anna again. His beautiful Anna, the one who made a huge sacrifice for his sake. He has been waiting for this moment for three years and now… Now that it was finally here it seemed too good to be true.

Suppressing a smile he ran down the stairs, noticing that most of his friends were already gone. That was odd. He was sure his friends would call him to go along. Maybe Yoh was daydreaming and didn't hear? Yeah, that was possible. So they just decided to leave because he was making Horo-Horo late.

Well, he couldn't leave Anna waiting, could he? The thought of how angry she would be made him laugh. God, he missed her so much that he would be smiling even if she slapped him hard.

"Yoh-kun…" called his best friend from the living room "Where are you going?"

"To see the battle." Yoh turned to his best friend with a smile, his hand was already on the door handle.

"W-Who said it was today?" Yoh noticed Manta was nervous. That wasn't unusual, Manta was always scared and nervous for no reason.

"Everybody is gone, so it must be today!" Yoh almost seemed like himself when he said that.

"Really? I didn't noticed." He was now trying to laugh while lying. Now Yoh knew how Anna would always know if Yoh had or not finished his training. Manta was a terrible liar; She must have asked him directly instead of Amidamaru or even Yoh himself.

"How can you not have noticed? The house is silent for once."

"What are you talking about? The ghosts keep talking and…"

"There are no ghosts here today Manta. Just Amidamaru." When his name was called, the samurai appeared.

"Well… I…" Damn. Manta didn't think Yoh would have noticed the fact that everyone was gone. He expected his best friend to stay up in his room daydreaming and just notice later on. He was hoping that when Yoh noticed the fact that everyone was gone he could already have an excuse ready, but…

"Come on Manta, we don't want to lose the fight." And with that the chocolate haired boy left.

"You thought I had switched sides?!" yeah, they deserved that. How could they doubted sweet, innocent, always caring Anna? The one who always gave up what she wanted for the others sake? How could they?

"Well…" Horo-Horo started, raising his hand, trying to calm Anna down.

"Well?! _Well?!" _She got close to them, pointing her finger "You dared to think that _I_ was going to betray Yoh?! And you didn't even let him come?! Do you have _any idea_ how hard this past three years have been for me?! Do you have any idea how much I wanted to see my _fiancée_ again?!"

"We were afraid that you…" Lyserg was going to try to explain now. Anna didn't usually yelled at him so it should be okay.

"Why would anyone with half a brain join that narcissist long haired idiot?!" she pointed at Hao, while looking at Lyserg. Okay, so maybe she was going to yell at him. It seemed that every time they opened their mouths she got angrier.

Hao was just laughing, watching the scene as if it was a private performance.

"It's been three years and…"

"It could have been a thousand years! I would _not_ betray Yoh!"

"I know that." Came a voice, coming from far away.

Anna turned to find Yoh, with his hands rested on his knees, catching his breath. By the look of it he sprinted all the way from Funbari. That was about 30 minutes by car.

He had that lazy smile on and still wore those silly headphones. Anna couldn't believe it. In front of her was her Yoh. _Her Yoh._ The one she loved with all her heart and longed to see it again. Now they were here, reunited. After three long years.

Thought she wasn't free yet. She still belonged to…

"If it isn't my little brother!" Hao now came close to Anna and put one arm around her shoulders. "Is so nice seeing you again! What have you been up to lately?"

"Hao..." Yoh had a murderous look on his face. One that Anna had never seen before. Did… Did the event three years ago hurt him that much? Did Yoh hate his brother? No. He would never hurt his brother. If anything, Yoh was angry and hurt that Hao tried to do something like that.

"So you are Yoh…" said Kanka, coming close to the three shamans. She had a sweet smile, until she got close enough to Yoh, replacing the smile with an angry look "What the hell is your problem?! How dare you let Anna become… Become a _slave?_ What kind of fiancée are you?!"

"I… I didn't want her to go!" Yoh raised his hand, as if he was trying to protect himself from the ghost "I wanted Anna to stay, but she offered to go in my place and…"

"That's true… She did offer herself to go…" Kanka then looked at Anna "Why did you do that?! You knew Hao! Now you are his slave! Why would you want that?!"

And the young female ghost started to rant.

But Anna didn't look like she was listening. She had her thumb and her index finger on her forehead, each over an eyebrow and massaging it slowly.

"Are you done?" Anna asked, sighing.

"Yes." She said, with a smile.

"Okay then…" she now walked up to Horo-Horo, getting her 1080 and shaking it, making Zenki and Goki appear behind her "Let's start the fight and get it over with."

"I've been waiting to beat you up since the day I met you." Horo-Horo now also made his over soul "I'll not go easy on you!"

"I would hope not. Or else it would be too easy." Anna now had that smirk that she used when she teased Yoh and his friends.

_3_

_2_

_1_

_FIGHT!_

Horo-Horo was the first one to attack. It was a direct attack, but surprisingly, Anna did not get hit. Not because he had bad aim, but because Anna used Furyoko Nullification.

"Yokatta…" Yoh let out a relieved smile "Good Job Anna!"

Anna couldn't help the corner of the lips curve up. It was funny how before she was the one silently cheering for Yoh, and now… Now he was the one cheering for her. Quiet loudly, actually.

"Just don't kill Horo-Horo!" He was smiling. His friends were surprised. Yoh was smiling. His guilt, his sadness… It all went away when he was able to see and talk to Anna again.

"That would be quite a show…" Hao said, watching the battle.

"Anna wouldn't have liked if she killed someone." Kanka said, with a thoughtful expression.

"By the way… Er… Who are you?" Manta asked, looking at the ghost.

"My name is _Kyuusen Kanka_. I died 600 years ago, when I was about 18 years old, of an illness. I use to haunt the same house Anna lived when she was a young girl, before her parents abandoned her." She looked at Anna, like a proud mother would wathch her child "Anna was the first person in that old house who could see spirits, so we were all very excited when we found out she could talk to us. But then her parents abandoned her and…" She let out a sigh "I guess I didn't want to live there anymore. And 2 years ago we meet again, and I decided to stay with her until she is finally free and happy again, like she was when she lived with Yoh."

"I see… So you knew Anna since she was a little girl." The British boy said.

"Yes. I do." Kanka smiled, watching the battle.

Anna had used Furyoku Nullification in almost all of Horo-Horo's attacks, evading the other ones. She raised the 1080 up and to the right, then again to the left before her arm went down and back. The movement made Zenki and Goki come from opposite directions with a fist and closing in on Horo-Horo.

But the ice shaman jumped, making both Shikigamis punch each other.

"Nice one, Anna. But looks like I'm finally stronger and smarter than the Great Anna!" and he laughed. Noticing his distraction, Anna lightly shook the 1080, making Zenki come close to Horo-Horo and attacking him from behind.

"Don't you dare assume that I am less intelligent than a half brain idiot like you." Anna's voice carried a threat.

"Now she is angry." Yoh said, silently wishing that Horo-Horo had kept his mouth shut. He was going to get it now.

"You're right. She'll end this quickly and painfully now." Hao laughed, his arms crossed and a smirk appeared on his lips when the laugh ceased "This is going to be fun."

After that Anna's attack came one after another, giving Horo-Horo almost no time to attack back. In fact, they came within less the three seconds. As soon as Horo-Horo evaded one, he had to look around and figure out where the other shikigami, because Anna first attacked with one at a time, was coming from. That left no time for Horo-Horo to actually figure out where Anna was standing so he could attack the itako.

That explains why, while turning to his right side, avoiding a punch from one of those monsters Anna was able to control, he didn't see a pale human hand raised, coming from the left.

Anna had slapped him. Hard.

With her _left_ hand.

Horo-Horo just realized what had happened when he was already in the air. Anna was keeping him busy with her Shikigamis so he wouldn't notice that she was coming close to him. Of course, his friends must not have told him because either they didn't notice as well or because they were too scared of what Anna would do to them if they said anything. Most likely the second option.

"Like I was going to miss the chance of slapping you after you thought I would betray Yoh and after you insulted me in front of everyone." He heard Anna saying as his back hit the concrete ground.

Then he heard another sound. A beeping sound, coming from his oracle bell.

The ainu raised his arm and read the message saying:

_You lost._

Turning his head to the side he saw his dear Kororo, with eyes full of tears.

Yep. That was Anna alright. With a slap so powerful it could make a man forget to maintain his over soul, making his lost even more humiliating.

To be continue…

**YES! I'm finally DONE with this chapter! You have no idea how hard it was for me to write it. First, translating this fanfic is being more of challenge than I thought. While writing it I think to myself "I should replace this word with this word, it sounds better." But then I stop myself thinking "Wait. What if I had chosen that word for some special reason? What if foreshadows something? Why can't I remember?!" And I start to cry and my dog and the two cats give me weird looks. I swear, I'm reading what I wrote three years ago and struggling to remember what happened after that. I'm surprised I could keep track of the entire story without getting out of the main plot. **

**Another thing that made this chapter hard was the fact that I kind of merged it with the next one. Next chapter was going to be entirely on Kanka, with a very important scene after that. But I want to give Kanka less time in this version of the story, so I explained her past (which took two to three pages in the original) in one paragraph. XD **

**But now I have the problem with the very important scene. I was going to put it in this chapter, but I liked this ending better. So I will have to figure out how to make the next chapter. It's going to be very hard. I can't just delete that scene…**

**Well, I'll figure out. ^^ Thanks for reading this crappy work of mine and thanks for reviewing ! I'll try to translate the next chapter soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**My lawyer quit on the cause… u_u So yeah, still not mine.**

"Good Morning, Anna dear." Hao greeted, with a smile on his face, his servant as she came back from her Purification section.

"This must be a record. The sun is only beginning to rise and you already ruined my day." She didn't even look at him, walking straight to her room.

"Don't be so harsh" Hao put a hand on his heart, his smile now looking more like a smirk "It hurts me."

"I would rather get a knife and stab my eyes with it than stay here talking to you." Now she looked at him "How is that for harsh."

"You killed me." He laughed at his own joke, but soon stopped when he saw Anna walking away "Be ready in half an hour, we have to go to Yokocha soon."

"I know…"

It's been three days since Anna was qualified for the Shaman Fight. She won the fight against Horo-Horo and then was invited to spend some time with them. She did. They celebrated together, all of them. Including Hao.

Before Anna used to hate parties. She still does, but this time it was different. She hadn't seen Yoh in three years, and she knew that after that day it would take some time for the two of them to meet again. She knew that Hao would not allow her to go visit Yoh, that he would keep a close eye on her. Anna wanted to enjoy the little time they would be able to spend together before the second part of the Shaman Fight. And if that meant a noisy party like in the old days, then she would happily join them.

Not that she got her private time with Yoh. Sure, the two sat side by side and talked like they used too in the old days, but nothing like she imagined. She didn't think the background music to that special meeting would be Horo-Horo and Ren yelling at each other, with Chocolove saying his old stupid jokes. And she would think that Hao would at least give her a bit of privacy, or be a little less obvious when observing them. Having him comment every time Yoh blushed was just annoying as hell.

And then they all received the message on the Oracle Bell, saying that all shamans who passed should all go to the Yokocha, where the Patchs would take them to an island and they would explain all the details of the Shaman Fight.

And she hasn't seen Yoh since that night.

They were going to meet them today, at Yokocha.

Or at least that's what she thought.

She was almost at the door of her room when she heard Hao opening the front door. Following that, Anna heard Hao's annoying voice saying the words:

"Good Morning Otouto."

And that was enough to make Anna go back to the living room.

They were all there. Lyserg, Chocolove, Manta, Faust, Horo-Horo, Ren and Yoh. Kanka was behind them, probably she was the one who told them where she lived.

She expected them to stand awkwardly in a corner, not knowing what to do at her house and at the presence of Hao. That's what Anna would think any normal person who knew her and Hao would do. But of course, they weren't normal. Horo-Horo was in the kitchen, Lyserg and Manta trying to stop a fight between Ren and Chocolove, Faust sitting on her couch and Hao talking with Yoh.

They were very comfortable, making themselves at home.

Only it was Anna's house, and she did not allow them to be so comfortable.

When Yoh saw Anna, his eyes lit up and he opened a smile.

"Anna!" he said, making everyone turn and look at her. Then he blushed and looked down, not knowing what to say. "Er… How… How are you?"

"I wish I could say fine, but I would be lying." She answered, getting close to her ex-fiancée."

"Why?" Yoh looked curiously at Anna. Her answer was a look at Hao, who smiled innocently.

"What did Hao do?" Yoh asked, looking at his brother.

"Many things." Anna said, bitterly. "But I think the one that pisses me off the most is the fact that he is breathing."

"You can say whatever you want, Anna…" his innocent smile turned into a smirk, as he raised his hand.

A glowing, strong looking chain appeared around Anna's writs. It looked so tight that if the others didn't know it was a spiritual chain, they would expect Anna's wrists to be bleeding. Hao was holding the end of the chain, almost like a owner holds the end of his dog's leash.

If it wasn't by Anna's head raised high and proud, Hao and Anna would look much like Master and Slave.

Yoh looked away. He couldn't stand looking at that damn chain. Once was enough. And what hurt the most was knowing that the damn spiritual chain making Anna Hao's eternal servant was there because of him. If it wasn't for him, Anna wouldn't be in that situation.

"But you are still mine." After that he let go of the chain, and it disappeared.

"Whatever." She started rubbing her wrists, which was odd because she could never really feel the chain. It was around her soul, not her body. It was always there, at every minute of every hour, and it was only materialized like that when Hao wanted to.

She walked to the front door and opened, walking out. It was obvious that Anna was leaving to Yokocha, so the others followed her.

They were surprised when they arrived in Yokocha and found many shamans. A lot more than in the first Shaman Fight. Most of them were New Competitors, very weak shamans with low furyoku. They were also surprised to find no X-Laws or Gandharas.

"So _that's_ our competition?" asked Ren, looking at one shaman who was bragging about how he was the best shaman in the world, with his furyoku up to a thousand.

"More than half of these people are shamans who never heard of the shaman fight until the Patchs came and challenged them." Anna explained, looking straight at the crowd, while Yoh looked around, searching for a familiar face. "The remaining of the new competitors were too weak to pass the test of the first Shaman Fight."

They continued to walk, and didn't notice a shaman coming in the opposite direction. He was walking to their right, when he bumped into Hao

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the shaman yelled, looking at Hao, who had a confused, innocent look "If I see you again, punk, I'll kill you!"

And with that he walked away, not noticing the half surprised and half terrified expression on their faces.

"And most of them…" continued Anna "Have no idea who Hao or any of you are. They are here because they think of themselves as the best and are hungry for power. They are not aware that shamans that are stronger than them and could easily crush them exist." She then looked at Hao. "Of course, we also know someone else who is just like that."

"You should respect your master more, Anna dear." Hao said, putting his arm around Anna's waist, making Yoh a tiny bit jealous.

"You may be my master." She spun around so she could be free of his arm, "But I will never." Got a hold of it "respect" and twisted around his back "you."

Lyserg smiled satisfied as he saw Hao blink his eyes, showing that he was indeed feeling pain. He never thought it was possible, but apparently the Great Hao could be hurt. You just needed to find the right shaman.

"Attention!" Goldva called, making Anna release Hao's arms and pay attention to whatever he was going to say "We will explain some things about this new Shaman Fight. As you all must know, we had to interrupt the last Shaman Fight" he looked at Yoh and the others "Because of some complications. Unfortunately, chaos and destruction did not have a break like we, shamans, did. We need a new Shaman King. And fast. We don't have the time we had in the first Shaman Fight. Therefore, instead of going to America and wait 3 months until shamans find out village, we will go directly to the Secret Patch Island in the Japanese Sea, and start the Second Stage of the Shaman Fight in a week." A pause "You have until then to form teams of three! Now, all into the Patch Boat, we can't afford to waste any time!"

"Teams of three?" Kanka looked at her group, who didn't seem to notice anything strange "Lyserg, Faust, Yoh, Horo-Horo, Ren and Chocolove can form two teams but… Hao and Anna are a group of two…."

To be continue…

**Okay, crappy chapter. Short crappy chapter. I know, sorry. This one is not one of my favorites. Neither is the next one. The chapter that I really want to write is the one that shows the Flash Back of what happened three years ago. Again, I'm sorry for this horrible chapter. I couldn't write it properly. I will try to make the next one better. **

**I hope you understand Anna's situation better. Or I hope you are more curious about what happened. I can't say yet, but I think it's pretty obvious. I tried to make some foreshadowing, but I don't think it worked. Oh well… **

**Oh! I'll give a virtual Cookie to anyone who finds out who is going to join Hao and Anna's team! Hint: It's not a original character. **

**A special thanks to RavenAk and Bersaki! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**Still looking for a new lawyer… So it's still not mine.**

Anna sat down on the Patch Dinner tired. She had to spend all day looking for someone to join her and Hao's team, but failed. She spent all day listening to Kanka talking and trying to find out more about each competitor. It was useless. They were either too annoying and full of themselves or too weak.

Lyserg had joined Yoh and Faust, forming the new Funbari Osen, and Ren, Horo-Horo and Chocolove were still the The Ren.

They were all weak shamans and Anna didn't have any desire in forming a team with. Actually, she had no desire in forming a team with anyone at all! If Hao had no team that meant that Hao would not be able to compete in the Shaman Fight, so it would be easier for Yoh to win the Shaman Fight.

She only had to look for a competitor for a few more days before being disqualified.

"Hey Anna!" Hao greeted, entering the dinner and sitting next to her. "Have you found someone to join our team?"

"No. And I doubt that I will." she said, as Hao ordered something for the two of them "The World must be in really big trouble because most of this shamans are weak."

"Well, the world can't stay without Shaman King for a long period of time."

"Yes, but I wouldn't put the fate of the planet in the hands of any of these losers." She then looked at Hao "Or yours, for that matter."

He just laughed.

"Well, is not like you are trying to find us a new companion."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying the truth, aren't I, Anna?" he asked, a smirk on his face "You don't want us to have a new competitor."

"So?"

"So you can just relax. I'll take over this quest, and soon we'll have a team." Hao said, standing up.

"You know someone in this island who is strong enough to join you team?" Anna looked at him surprised. None of the new competitors were strong enough.

"I think my little brother and his friends are very strong." He sighed "But sadly it's not one of them I'm thinking about."

"So you are going to let one of those weak shamans who didn't even knew about the shaman fight join a team with you? One of those who will act superior."

"Don't be silly, Anna dear." Hao took some money out and handed to her, so she could pay for her meal "You're acting like you don't know me at all."

"What do you mean?" she looked at him suspiciously.

"Nothing." He smiled and then left, leaving Anna with more questions than answers.

Yoh and his friends were talking about the same thing on the other side of the island. Horo-Horo and Chocolove believed that Hao and Anna would soon be disqualified, that he would never let one of the new weak competitors join his team. They argued that Hao only liked to be surrounded by strong shamans who would obey his every will, and that none of the new competitors would agree with his terms, and would be killed for refusing Hao's offer without even realizing.

But Ren and Lyserg disagreed. They said that Hao has been trying to become the Shaman King for a thousand years, and that he would only give up in this life if he was dead. They said that he would never let himself be disqualified, that he would probably give in and let a weal shaman join his team, and later when he or she was of no use, he would kill them.

Faust was out with Manta, buying groceries. Yoh was sitting alone in a corner, not paying any attention to the discussion.

"You know how Hao is." Started Chocolove "He only lets certain people in his group, and he can't take no for an answer. Either he will let you live if he thinks you'll be of use to him later or he kills you right on the spot."

"He's right." Lyserg said "But I don't think Hao would let something like a missing team member stop him from participating in the second part of the Shaman Fight.

"He wouldn't, and he won't." Ren said, shaking his head "He must have a plan or we are missing something obvious."

"Or we're looking too much into this!" Horo-Horo complained, resting his head on his hands "Dude, Hao is not that smart. And he can always reincarnate or whatever! He know that if he can't accomplish anything this shaman fight he can do it in the next. And because of the chains he can bring Anna with him! And the two of them would be stronger!"

"Shinning Chains!" Chocolove yelled, trying to make a joke. Needless to say Ren just hit him.

"Do you think the Shaman King can stop someone from reincarnating?" asked Amidamaru, finally joining the conversation.

"What do you mean?" Lyserg looked at the samurai curious.

"We were talking about it and…"Bason started.

"Chocolove and the blue haired are right." Said Pacal Avaf "Hao won't let someone who doesn't respect him join his team. With the exception of the blonde girl. And it is possible for him to just try again in the next Shaman Fight. 500 years for him is nothing."

"But maybe the Shaman King can stop someone from reincarnating. In the last two Shaman Fights the Shaman Kings were not aware of Hao could do. So we don't know, maybe it is possible for the Shaman King to stop Hao from ever reincarnating, therefore completely defeating him."

"That is a good point, Amidamaru-san…" said Lyserg, thinking "So if one of us becomes the Shaman King we may find a way to stop him forever, instead of only for 500 years. This should work but…"

"I did it!" they all heard Yoh yelling happily, interrupting their thoughts

"Did what, Yoh?" asked Horo-Horo, looking at his friend, who was holding a handmade necklace.

"A necklace for Anna!" Yoh showed them the necklace proudly.

"A collar for Anna?" That commentary only made Ren punch Chocolove another time.

"We were having a serious conversation you moron!" Ren turned to Yoh "And you interrupt it to announce that you made a necklace?!"

"It's an important necklace, Ren." Yoh answered, frowning. "I have to give it to her once I become the Shaman King."

"And what makes you think that you'll become the Shaman King?" Horo-Horo was now looking at him.

"I did!"

And then a new discussion, about who was going to become the next Shaman King started. This one filled with laughter and teasing.

Anna followed Hao outside the dinner.

"Will you answer my questions?" Anna was angry, she hated being left on the dark.

"Not if you ask like that." Hao was smiling, enjoying the fact that Anna was mad.

"Just answer my damn questions Hao!"

"You do know that I'm the master and you are the servant right?" Hao asked, looking at her with an innocent look, and then he raised his right hand "Or do I need you to remind you?"

Anna just glared at him.

"Oh, by the way, I never told you how much I loved the necklace you are always wearing." Hao said, referring to the simple chain with the blue stone "I feel honored that you are willing to marry me."

"I'm willing to marry Yoh!" Anna yelled, holding the necklace "That is why I still wear this necklace."

"I made that necklace a thousand years ago, when I asked my first wife to marry me." Hao smiled at the memory. He still remembered his first wife, a beautiful shaman who was both feared and adored. Unfortunately she wasn't very bright and never cared about anything but appearances. In order to propose to her Hao made a necklace, saying that she should wear it for as long as she was willing to marry him. Hao wore one similar, with a pentagram.

"Yoh was going to start making my new necklace when you showed up and ruined everything."

The necklace Hao made became a family heirloom, and the engagement necklaces became a tradition. In Yoh and Anna's case, Kino, the last woman to marry into the Asakura family, gave the necklace to Anna, the same necklace Hao's wife wore. That would show others that she was willing to marry Yoh and would be loyal to him. Yoh, when he believed he was ready to marry her, would make a new one for Anna. Only after Yoh gave it to Anna they could start the preparations for the wedding.

In the case of a man marrying into the Asakura family, like Mikihisa, the man would wear the pentagram necklace and the woman would make him a new one. After the wedding they kept both necklace and waited to pass it to the next person who would marry into the family.

The fact that Anna was still wearing the simple chain with the blue stone meant that she was still waiting for Yoh, and wanted no one but him.

"What happened to the pentagram?"Hao asked curiously.

"Mikihisa _lost_ it one day." Anna said.

"I see." Hao smiled. He knew that probably he didn't lost it, but just threw it away, angry to be wearing something that once belonged to Hao. "Do you really think my little brother will give you a new necklace?"

"Yes. Once I'm free."

"Which you'll never be." Hao smiled "Now, I need to go."

"Not until you answer my questions."

"I will… Soon." And he smiled, leaving Anna alone with her memories.

Sighing, she looked at the blue stone and opened a small smile. Yoh was going to give her new necklace. She was sure of it. As she got her freedom back.

Hao walked a long way until he finally found what he was searching for. Anna and the others were so silly. Of course he would never let some shaman who didn't respect him join his team! Never! Those weak pieces of garbage were almost as bad as normal humans!

But of course, there weren't only new shamans in this Shaman Fight. Some of the old shamans were back. Not the Gandharas, X-Laws or his Group… Those shamans mysteriously disappeared. But there were teams that weren't on any of those groups. Teams of Shamans who got stronger during the years and who knew and feared him.

Finally he found one of those teams. As soon as they saw Hao their eyes go wide with fear. Hao could hear their thoughts. They were scared. They thought they were going to die right there. They could try to fight for their lives but knew they had no chance of winning. The best thing they could do was not be rude and obey his order, then maybe they could escape with their lives.

_Perfect. _Hao thought, smilling.

"So… Which one of you wants to join my team?"

To be Continue….

**Sorry if this chapter was confusing… **

**Well, I guess now you can guess who is going to join Hao's team, right? Take a look at the competitors of the Shaman Fight and see which ones are not with the Gandharas, X-Laws, Hao's Group and you'll be able to find about… Three teams I think. One of them has the new member of Hao's and Anna's team!**

**And the necklace… I didn't put much detail about it until this chapter. In fact, I had forgot about it, just remembered when I was reading this chapter. XD If you go back to the prologue, you can see that I wrote that Anna wore a simple chain with a blue stone. And the necklace Yoh made… That's right, is the one he'll give her once he is ready to marry her. ^^**

**I hope you liked this chapter, even if it was confusing. **

**And… Wow! O_O In about one or two chapters it will be the flash back of what happened three years ago! I didn't even noticed it was this close! SO the fanfic is almost over… o.o **


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

**Shaman King is still not mine… I'm trying to get enough money to hire a good lawyer.**

"Zria is down!" yelled Radim into his microphone "Now is all up to Hao and Anna!"

Zria was the third member of the Hoshigumi, and ex-member of the Ice Men. She was the third member of Hao and Anna's team, joining as soon as Hao asked. She had already formed a team with Pino and Cadimahide, but when the all powerful Hao asked one of them to join his team, they knew better than to refuse. It was by luck that they decided that Zria would be the one to continue in the Shaman Fight… The other two had to give up.

And this was the last battle of the second part of the Shaman Fight. Hoshigumi had won all of its fight, not thanks to the third member. Hao and Anna would always let her fight first, and because he strength was pretty much the same level as the other three shamans from the other team, the fight would go on for a long time, until Zria was defeated and there was only Hao and Anna left.

_FLASH BACK (2 months before)_

_Anna was at the Café, eating her lunch. She tried to distract herself, but the only thing on her mind was Hao's words. He had a plan and she didn't like that. She wanted to be disqualified, so Hao wouldn't be able to become the Shaman King. So Yoh could become the Shaman King and free her. _

_But the long haired idiot was prepared already. Hao probably already found someone to join their team._

"_Anna, my dear! How are you today__?" Hao asked as soon as he entered the café, a huge smile on his face._

"_Oh great… Just what I needed to ruin my lunch." Anna didn't even look up._

"_Why so down__?" the onmyouji asked, sitting down in front of her._

"_You are here." The answer only made him laugh._

"_Well, I have good news to cheer you up!" his smile didn't disappear._

"_I doubt it." she didn't even look at him, just drank her ice tea. _

"_I found a shaman who will join our team!" she finally looked at him in the eyes "And you know the person."_

"_I know the person__?" Anna raised her eyebrows "I doubt Yoh, Ren, Chocolove, Lyserg, Horo-Horo or Faust decided to join our team."_

"_Of course they didn't!" Hao only continued to smile "Ren, Chocolove and Horo-Horo are still on The Ren and Lyserg has joined my little brother's team."_

"_So who decided to join your team__?"_

"_You mean our team."_

"_No, your team. I may be forced to stay by your side, but I'm still cheering for Yoh." She was satisfied when she noticed his smile disappeared. "But I'm curious. You asked one of those new week competitors?"_

"_No." he reached for her glass of ice tea and drank "Too much sugar."_

"_That's the way I like it. Yoh used to put too much sugar on my tea, saying it's to bitter. I just got used to it." She answered, raising her hand and asking for a new drink, refusing to drink the one Hao did._

"_My brother is just like a child." Hao chuckled "Well, either way, the new member of our team is that girl from the team that lost to Yoh on the first Shaman Fight."_

"_You mean Zria?" Anna was surprised. She never really thought about the other teams that weren't part of Hao's group, that weren't on Yoh's side, with the X-Laws or the Gandharas… There were a few independent groups in the First Shaman Fight, even thought they were quickly elimated. And the Patchs had decided to let every shaman who passed to the second phase of the First Shaman Fight try again on this one._

"_Was that the name of the team?"_

"_No, that's the name of the girl." Anna rolled her eyes. "Didn't you pay any attention to the battles of the Shaman Fight?"_

"_I did. But besides the X-Laws and Gandharas, I only noticed Yoh's Team and The Ren." He answered, shrugging "The others were so pathetic… So small."_

"_And what are you going to do once we pass this part of the Shaman Fight and go to Mu?" _

_The sweet smile on his face turned into a smirk. One that sent chills down Anna's spine. She feared for Zria… She knew things wouldn't end up well for her._

"_That's for me to know, and you to find out."_

_Flash Back _

"Do you want to end this fight?" Anna asked, looking at Hao.

"Yes, in fact, I do." Hao smiled. "This is our last battle. Yoh's and Ren's team are already qualified and this is the fight to decide the last team that will go to Mu."

"Only three teams?" Anna looked at Hao surprised.

"It was going to be four, but apparently many of the other competitors died and we don't have enough shamans." Hao calmly explained.

"Oh… Someone has been eliminating the competition."

"Please… They could hardly be called that."

Hao walked up to the middle of the battlefield, a carefree smile on his face. The three competitors held their breaths. They had seen Hao fight and now they knew that he was the strongest shaman on the island.

"Now… Do you want to give up now or do I have to kill you?"

"You can't win against the thereof us!" said the one on the right. Hao laughed.

"I can't?"

"No!" the one in the middle said.

Hao smiled satisfied. It was so much fun seeing these weak shamans so sure of their strength.

"You are so small…" Hao said, raising his hand "Ok, three against one."

With that hand gesture, the Spirit of Fire appeared under his feet. He chuckled when he saw the fear on the eyes of the three shamans. So small… So Pathetic. This was going to be too easy. It wasn't going to be fun at all!

With another wave of his hand, Hao trapped the three shamans in a barrier of fire, forcing the shaman on the right and the shaman on the left to back away to the middle, their backs touching the arms of the third shaman.

Hao made another gesture, and the Spirit of Fire's hand came from the left, with his fingers pointing to the three shamans. The movement was quick, and in a second the three bodies were stuck in the SOF's fingers. With another hand gesture from Hao, the three bodies started to catch on fire, and the entire stadium heard the screams of agony coming from the battlefield.

Yoh saw Anna looking away. He couldn't stand the sight either. His brother who didn't care who he hurt as long as he got what he wanted. Just like what he is doing to his Anna… And to think it was suppose to be him there, not her. It was all his fault.

No. Standing there feeling guilty wouldn't help. He would become the Shaman King. Somehow he would continue to fight in Mu, and then in the final battle… He would win against his brother, become the Shaman King and free Anna.

And then he would finally give her the necklace.

**YESSSSSS!!!! I finally finished! This chapter was suppose to be longer, the next one and this one were suppose to be one, but I decided to divide them… Sorry if you feel like it was a filler and were expecting something else… Well, in good news, in two chapters I'll show the flash back of what happened three years ago. And… I guess that's it for this chapter. Sorry… **


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**It is mine! =DDD Just kidding. It's not. Takei is too stubborn and refuses to sell the rights…**

Two days after the fight, the three teams met at the beach of the island, ready to go to Mu. Ren, Lyserg, Horo-Horo, Chocolove and Faust were all together, as if they made up one team instead of two. Yoh was talking to Anna and Hao, comfortably, but not exactly happy. He wished things were different, that the situation was different. He wished that they would be having a conversation like this as a family, Yoh and Anna as a married couple and Hao as the obnoxious brother who wanted to visit and annoy his sister-in-law. It was something that Yoh dreamed about during the first Shaman Fight, when he thought he could still save Hao and have a happy family.

Now he knew that it would never happen. That no matter how much he wished for a happy family, he knew he could never have it. Hao would never give up his dream of being the Shaman King, of killing humans, and Anna would never forgive him for taking her as his slave. And even thought he could still talk comfortably with his brother and enjoy his company, Yoh knew that he would never be able to forgive him either.

Zria stood apart from everyone, looking around nervously. She knew Hao, she knew what he was capable of. And she was scarred. Scarred because she didn't know what would happen next. Hao let her join his team because he needed someone that would obey his orders in his team. That was the only reason why he let her join his team. She could barely fight without Pino and Cadimahide. She had trained to fight along with them, her oversoul making up for what Pino and Cadimahide's weakness, and their oversouls making up for her weakness. She was useless, only needed so they could have a team. But now there would be no teams. It was one on one fight.

She was no longer needed.

"I see we're all here." Silva said, looking at all the competitors. "Oh! Anna-chan! Long time no see!"

"Don't call me that!" Anna yelled, earning laughs from Yoh and Hao.

"Anna-chan… I like the sound of that." Hao said with a smirk.

"Don't you dare call me that." Anna looked at Hao, angry.

"I like it too." Yoh said, with a smile. This time, Anna blushed.

After that, they all went inside the submarine, which was huge. There was enough space for all 9 competitors, Manta and the 10 judges and have room left to walk around. During the entire time Horo-Horo was looking at fishes, they got weirder and weirder as they got deeper, he said. Manta kept talking to Lyserg about the submarine, and Chocolove was telling jokes to Ren, who wasn't one bit interested in what the American Shaman had to say.

Yoh and Anna were sitting far from everyone, catching up. They had no idea where Hao was, so they were taking advantage of the opportunity. Since they meet again they hadn't had the time to spend a lot of time alone. No, in fact, they spend no time alone. The few minutes that they saw each other outside the stadium, Hao was with them, making it impossible for the two lovers to have a real conversation.

But now Hao was doing God knows what, and they could finally talk. Mostly Anna was asking about how Yoh was doing without her, and Yoh asking if Hao has been treating her well. They talked about the future and how when they solved everything, they could finally start a life together.

They ignored the fact that to free Anna, Yoh needed to defeat Hao and become the Shaman King. Losing was not an option. If Hao did become the Shaman King…

Anna would never be free.

Hao was even farther from everyone. He was going to talk to Zria, who walking around, trying to avoid him. That wasn't a surprise. The Russian shaman probably already figured out what he wanted to "talk" about.

A smirk appeared on his lips. This was such an amusing situation. She was probably trying to find a way to escape. Silly girl. No one ever escaped from the Great Asakura Hao. Once his mind was set on something, he would get it, no matter what.

And right now, he wanted Zria. She was mistaken by thinking she was no longer needed. Oh yes, she was very wrong. He needed her. Just not as team member. Just not alive. He needed her soul. The Spirit of Fire did need to eat, after all.

And even thought he hated to admit, his brother did get stronger during the past three years. He could not afford to let an opportunity to make the Spirit of Fire stronger pass by.

Finally Hao spotted her. He walked silently; making sure no one would hear him. Not that they could stop him. He just didn't want to be disturbed. It would be easier if everything was done smoothly. Hao was, after all, lazy; just like Yoh.

"Zria!" he greeted with a polite smile. She jumped almost three feet, for Hao's amusement. "How are you doing?"

"F-Fine, so far." She said, looking around. There had to be someone, anyone, who could see or hear them. Someone had to appear and save her! If she was let alone with Hao he would… he would… he would kill her!

"I need to thank you for helping me and Anna-chan" yes, Hao definitely liked the new nickname "Without you we wouldn't be here right now."

"I was useless during the battles Hao." She was still looking around, nervously. She couldn't fight him. She wasn't strong enough. What to do?

"Oh no… You were useful, just not helpful." His polite smile was slowly turning into an evil smirk, full of malice and amusement. He could read her thoughts; feel the panicking inside of her. But even thought it amused him how even thought she knew she was going to die, inside of her heart there was still some hope, it also made him slightly depressed. Everyone feared him. Everyone always assumed the worst of him. That is, everyone except his brother. But not anymore. Yoh was now among the others who thought he was someone who could only use people for his own selfish reasons. Not that Hao could blame him. Yoh did have faith in Hao. Up until three years ago, that is.

"But I need your help with something else." He said, the smile now gone completely.

"Really?" she didn't even bother to hide the relief she felt. She was still needed. Maybe she wasn't going to die.

"Yes… The Spirit of Fire is hungry, I'm afraid." And he saw the panic coming back. A second late the Spirit of Fire appeared behind Zria and burned her body completely, in a blink of an eye. Soon after he ate her soul. It was over in less than a minute. Silent and Fast, that's how she died. So quickly that Hao couldn't help but wonder if her soul, during the moment before it was absorbed, noticed that it wasn't attached to a body "And you are the only thing I can feed him for now." Hao sighed, and the Spirit of Fire quickly disappeared. "It was very fast… But I'm afraid there was one witness… Oh well."

Yoh and Anna were still talking when Kanka appeared, her eyes wide.

"Anna! Anna! Hao-sama! He… He…!"

Yoh looked at Kanka concerned, while Anna sighed.

"What did that long haired idiot did now?"

"He… He killed Zria! He killed her!" she screamed so loud that everyone heard.

And it was silent. Everyone looking at Kanka, who just delivered the news. Some, like Horo-Horo, Chocolove and Faust were in shock, while others, like Anna, Yoh, Ren and Lyserg felt anger and guilt. They could have stopped him. Why didn't they realize that he would be up to something like that? It's not like it's the first time he killed someone; the first time he did something like this.

"She… She died?" Manta, who was shaking, asked.

"Yes, her soul was a tasty snack for the Spirit of Fire." Hao said, joining the others with a smile on his face, as if he haven't just committed a murder.

"Hao, you didn't have to kill her!" Yoh said, walking up to his brother.

"Yes, I did, my dear brother." He shrugged "She would have died during the finals anyway."

"That's not a reason!"

"I never did need a reason, now, did I?"

"We're here." Chief Goldva said, interrupting the discussion.

They all stepped out of the submarine and on the floor of Mu. Chief Goldva and the judges joined the finalists soon after. Behind the judges and in front of the finalists there was a very small stadium and a building, where they would sleep.

"Attention finalists!" Goldva started "From now on we will only have one on one fights. We have a stadium, as you all can see, where we will have two battles a day. The other building is where you all shall sleep until the Shaman Fight is over and the Shaman King is chosen." He looked at the eight faces "It seems we are missing one person."

Hao smiled at that, as if someone had just given him a compliment.

"Well, that will make it easier." he sighed "The first two battles will be tomorrow. In the morning it will be Lyserg against Anna, and at night Hao against Chocolove." Lyserg looked at Anna, and smiled politely, the itako nodded in acknowledgment. Hao looked at Chocolove and copied Lyserg smile, but instead of receiving a nod he received a confident smile from the comedian, who was sure he had a chance of winning "The day after Yoh and Horo-Horo will fight in the morning, and Ren and Faust at night." Yoh smiled at Horo-Horo, who seemed happy with the fact that he would be able to fight his friend one on one once again. Ren only smirked, considering himself the winner already.

"The winner of Lyserg and Anna's battle will fight against the winner of Hao and Chocolove's battle. The winner of Horo-Horo and Yoh's battle will fight the winner of Ren and Faust's battler. Then, the two remaining shamans will fight for the title of the Shaman King!" he looked at each of the competitors. "The judges will give you the keys to your room. We'll serve food, but it will cost you. Have a nice rest, and tomorrow the last part of the Shaman Fight will start!"

**Yeah… Zria is dead now. Sorry. I still hoped you liked it! It's kind of weird for me to do a bad Hao when I'm so use to do him as a person who is misunderstood and who does things but inside he is suffering. It's been a long time since I did him like this, it's so weird… But fun, at the same time. XD Next chapter there is going to be a big flash back! =D Reviews please!!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Yeah… Things haven't changed since then, I still don't own it. **

Yoh was sitting on his bed, looking out the window, without being able to sleep. Many things were going through his head: how lucky he was for meeting with Anna again, and how it was his fault that she was in that situation in the first place.

Why did he let that happen to her? How could he just let him take her? She stopped Hao when he tried to take him; couldn't Yoh have done the same for Anna? It was his fault! He should have stopped him…

As he turned his head away from the window, he sees the necklace he made for Anna. A small sad smile appeared on his lips, as he stood up to get it.

They were preparing their wedding when that happened. If Hao hadn't showed up that day, Anna would already be Mrs. Asakura.

Yoh's smile got slightly larger with the idea. Mrs. Asakura Anna. It sounded so nice, so perfect… It fitted her so well! And the idea to be married to her, to be forever by her side… To be able to call her his _wife_…

The events of three years ago were still so fresh on his mind.

_Flash Back_

_It seemed like a normal morning in Yoh and Anna's house. Yoh was out, buying groceries, and Anna was at the kitchen table, trying to read a book. Trying, but not succeeding. The truth was, she couldn't take her mind off the conversation she had a few minutes ago with Kino. _

"_Tadaima." She heard Yoh say as he came in._

"_Okaeri Nasai." She answered, looking up to see him._

_Yoh set the groceries down and started put everything in its place and taking out the ingredients he would need for today's lunch. Anna continued to follow him with her eyes, which Yoh thought it was weird, considering she had a book in her hands. Usually when she was reading she would ignore everything going around her and yell at people for making noise and disrupting her… Much like how she behaved when she was watching one of her soap operas. But today she seemed kind of distracted._

"_What happened__?" he asked, looking at her as he got the pan out._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean you seemed a little distracted. But not in a bad way! You look… happier than usual. Kind how I look when I'm distracted." _

_Anna rolled her eyes and decided to ignore the fact that she was being compared to him when he is in his "idiot mode"._

"_How can you tell?" _

"_I know you for years now, Anna!" he smiled happily "You can try to hide it, but I always know what you're feeling! Is my special gift!"_

"_I see…" _

"_Will you tell me what happened?" he smiled and sat down in front of her, forgetting that he had to start cooking lunch._

"_Kino-sensei called." She started, noticing that Yoh was still confused, probably asking himself why a call from his grandmother would distract her so much "She said we need to pack our things and go to Izumo, to start preparing for our wedding."_

_A second later someone was holding her so tight she could barely breathe._

"_That's great news Anna!" Yoh said, finally releasing her, with a big smile on his face "We've been waiting for this for so long! Finally!"_

"_Didn't expect you to be this happy." she said "Usually the bride is the one who is excited."_

"_Well, we never were a traditional couple, were we?" Yoh laughed. "Why start now?"_

_She sighed as she closed her book. With Yoh this excited, no way she would be able to continue her "reading"._

"_When are we leaving?"_

"_Tomorrow morning. So you don't need to worry about training today. Do the house chores, leaving it ready and clean, we don't know how long we'll stay there, and I don't want this house messy and full of dust. Also you need to pack both our bags. We still have some clothes there, but I don't know if they still fit, so make sure to pack more than you usually to."_

"_Hai!" he ran to the stairs, ready to start doing everything._

"_Yoh!" she called. "Do it later. You need to cook our lunch first!"_

"_Anna, can't we go out today?" he asked pouting. "We have to celebrate! It's not every day that you find that we can start preparing our wedding!"_

"_Fine…" Anna couldn't hold back her smile. Yoh was so excited, so happy, he seemed like a little 8 year old kid who found out his parents were taking him to Disney Land. It was both cute and annoying, very Yoh-like._

_The next day, after hours of travelling, they arrived at the Asakura Mansion. On the way there they were mostly silent, thinking about the reason why they were there: Marriage. They would married… Finally, after being engaged for so many years._

_When they entered the room at the main house, they were surprise to see that they were all there: Yohmei, Kino, Keiko and Mikihisa. All four of them, which was very unusual, considering Mikihisa was always searching for Hao, Keiko always working and Kino lived far away._

"_Yoh!!" Keiko greeted as soon as she saw her son walking into the room "I can't believe my little boy is going to get married! It feels like only yesterday I was breastfeeding you!"_

"_Mom!!" Yoh's face was red, as he looked down._

"_And Anna, I'm so happy for you!" she then went to the young itako "I know how much you love my son, and you're perfect for him! I can't imagine him with anyone else."_

"_Thank you, Keiko-sama." Anna said, bowing slightly. She may be controlling with Yoh, their friends and Tamao, but when it came to the rest of the Asakura family, she behaved respectfully._

"_Oh, don't be so formal. You will soon be one of us, one of the Asakura women!" Keiko smiled kindly, causing Anna to blush a little. Be one of the Asakura Women… Sounded like a dream come true._

"_Before we start talking about the wedding, Yoh, please, follow us." Yohmei called, leaving the room, with Mikihisa following him, not waiting for his grandson to answer._

"_Coming!" Yoh yelled, following them, he looked to Anna and waved to her, as in saying "I'll see you later!"_

"_And you, my child," Kino said "Follow us."_

_With that, the three women left the room, going to the opposite direction._

"_Is something wrong?" Anna asked, when they entered a room and sat down._

"_We need to give you something." Kino said, and Keiko smiled._

"_Give me something?" _

"_Yes." Keiko said, opening a box and taking out a necklace "This, it belonged to mother."_

"_And you're giving it to me because…?" Anna asked as she took the necklace into her hands and looked at it. Very simple, just a chain with a blue stone. _

"_Because you are the new Asakura bride, the one who will marry into our family." Kino answered " It's our tradition, you have to wear it as long as you are willing to marry to Yoh. As long as you wear it, you are to be loyal to him and the Asakura family."_

"_So I'll wear it until the day I'm married?"_

"_No, my dear." Keiko smiled kindly again. Anna could see from who Yoh got that smile from "You wear it until Yoh makes a new one for you, proving that he is ready to marry you. Of course, he will stay loyal to you, it's just that sometimes the Asakura were busy with their lessons and didn't thought they were ready to get married yet. So they would wait until the right moment, make the necklace and give to the one they were engaged to. Only then we can start preparing the wedding."_

"_So, why are we here?"_

"_We needed to give the necklace to you, and tell Yoh about the necklace he needed to make you." Kino answered._

"_It's our version of an engagement ring." Keiko smiled._

"_An engagement necklace?" Yoh asked, as he finished hearing the same explanation Anna had._

"_Yes." Mikihisa answered._

"_But I thought we were here to discuss the wedding!"_

"_This is the first step." Yohmei answered this time "When you leave this room, check to see if Anna is wearing a chain with a blue stone. If she is, then it means she wants to marry you and she will be loyal to you."_

"_But don't assume that just because she is wearing it today she will wear it until you finish making her the new necklace." Mikihisa warned "She may stop wearing it one day, and that means she wants to break the engagement."_

"_O-Ok…" Yoh looked down. He couldn't imagine one day finding out that Anna didn't want to get married anymore. It would crush him. It would hurt too much; hurt knowing she didn't want to be with him anymore._

_Wait, is he actually doubting Anna? She has always helped him! She has done everything for him! She had trained him and helped him for years! If it wasn't for Anna he would be dead by now! Anna would betray him; she would never leave him! He trusted her, he knew she would be wearing that necklace until the day he gave her the new one._

_After that he left the room. Yoh was lost in his thoughts… Engagement Necklace. He had never heard of such tradition. His family was really old fashion, wanting to stick with every single tradition, even if it was weird and had a bunch of useless rules. It was too complicated for him to understand._

_Of course, if it wasn't for those traditions, he would have never met Anna in the first place. So maybe they weren't that bad. _

"_Heads in the clouds again?" asked a voice, snapping him out of his thoughts._

"_Anna!" Yoh greeted with his usual smile "They finished talking to you as well?"_

"_Yes." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. Yoh noticed that, and then saw it, around her neck, the chain… And then he noticed the blue stone. _

"_You're wearing the necklace!" His smile grew larger._

"_Of course I am." she seemed angry. "I have to wear it until you make me a new one!"_

"_I'm going to start working on it right away!"_

_And then he gave her quick kiss on the cheek, and ran towards the garden, so he could think about the perfect necklace for Anna and start making it, leaving a blushing Anna behind. He had to think about something that would suit Anna very well. It had to be simple, for he knew Anna hated things that were to extravagant, but it had to be special and unique as well. Anna liked cold weather, so maybe something that reminded her of snow…_

'_It's going to be hard, but worth it!' Yoh thought, smiling. _

"_Wow… So you are going to marry Anna already?"called a voice behind Yoh._

_Yoh knew that voice perfectly well. It belonged to the one and only Asakura Hao. Yoh turned around and saw his older twin brother._

"_Hello Hao!" Yoh greeted "It's a surprise to see you here. Any special motive? You don't usually show up at the Asakura Mansion…"_

"_Of course there is a special motive." Hao smiled "Don't you know by now, little brother, that I always do things with a reason?"_

"_Yeah, I guess it was a stupid question." Yoh laughed "So, what is it?"_

"_I came here to kill you." And a second later the Spirit of Fire appeared behind Hao._

_But that didn't surprise Yoh one bit. He didn't even flinch. He frowned a little bit, but continued with his smile._

"_That's too bad, Hao." Yoh said, grabbing the futsu no mitama and Harusame, that he always carried with him and then creating his Over Soul, Byakko "I can't let you do that, I'm getting married!"_

_And so a fight between the two twins started. Hao wanted to kill Yoh, absorb his soul so he could get stronger. Yoh was way too strong right now. They still had a few years before the Shaman Fight started again, if he continued like that, it would be extremely hard for Hao to win the Shaman Fight and become the Shaman King. He needed to get rid of Yoh, and at the same time get stronger. Killing him and absorbing his soul was the only way._

_Yoh was fighting for his life. He had no intention of dying before marrying Anna, becoming the Shaman King, having a child and growing old. And it wasn't going to be by his brother's hand that he would lose his life. He would die of old age with Anna, just like he pictured his grandparents. Losing this battle wasn't an option._

_Too bad Hao was stronger than him. Yoh ended up getting tired during the battle, and couldn't doge his brother's attack any longer. His will to keep on going was strong… But so was Hao's will to kill him. It was over. Yoh had no way of winning that battle. He was on the floor, not being able to move, burned and badly injured. He was trying to get up, but didn't have enough strength. Hao had won. And now Yoh would pay with his life._

"_Now, dear brother…" Hao said, with a smirk "It's time to say good bye."_

_And Hao ordered Spirit of Fire punch the ground where Yoh was lying so he could finally kill him._

_But the hand never reached Yoh, because someone used __Furyoku Nullification. Anna had ran and stood in front of Yoh, and using __Furyoku Nullification, and stopped Hao's attack just in time, saving her beloved's life._

"_Stop Hao." She ordered, staring straight at him._

"_Anna…" yoh said, weakly. He could barely speak. If Anna hadn't showed up he would be dead. He smiled, even thought it hurt to do so. It was a thank you smile. A thank you smile to his Anna._

"_I…" Anna looked at Yoh on the ground. It was so sad seeing him like that. She would do anything to protect Yoh. Anything. "I have a proposition for you."_

**Yes, I ended here. XD This was a long chapter compared to the other ones. I hope you liked! Next Chapter I'll finish the Flash Back! Thanks for all the reviews! **


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Shaman King does not belong to me… Sadly.**

_The Spirit of Fire disappeared as soon as he hears those words. Anna was helping Yoh get up. She couldn't allow that battle to continue; she couldn't let Hao kill her lover. She knew exactly what she was going to do, and even thought knowing what it would cost, she was ready for it, if it meant saving Yoh's life… Even if she would never see him again._

"_Anna… Don't do anything you might regret…" Yoh said in a whisper. He was so weak he couldn't barely speak. _

"_I'm going to save your life, Yoh. I won't regret it." Anna smiled sadly, looking at Yoh. He just stared at her, also sad._

"_Will you stop that before I throw up?" Hao said, interrupting the moment between the two "Say your proposition, Anna, or I'll make you a widow in a minute."_

"_I'll die in Yoh's place." Anna said, no emotion in her voice._

"_What?!" Yoh looked at her, not believing what he had just heard. Was Anna insane? How could she say something like that? To die in his place… How the hell would make things better?_

"_Shut up." Anna said, looking straight at Hao now. "Hao, you only want Yoh's soul so you can be stronger, and so you have no more difficulties during the Shaman Fight… I'm stronger than Yoh. Take my soul and you won't need to worry about him or his friends."_

"_Do you really want to die in my brother's place?" Hao asked, looking at her surprised._

"_No!" Yoh yelled, with the little strength he had. _

"_Yes." Anna ignored Yoh, her voice showing her determination. She would do anything for Yoh, anything to save his life._

"_But I don't want to kill you… And even with your soul, Yoh and his friends will still be a problem, Anna dear. I'm not stupid." He sighed "But… I do like the idea of your soul belonging to me."_

"_Hao… Don't… Don't do anything to her…"_

_Hao smiled._

"_Don't worry little brother. I have another proposition to your fiancée" Hao then looked at Anna "Let's make a deal. I'll let you and Yoh live, if you sacrifice something for me."_

"_What is it?" Anna asked._

"_Your freedom." _

"_What?"_

"_You heard me. I want your freedom." He sighed tiredly "I guess I'll have to explain, right? It's simple. There is a shaman spell that will take your freedom away, make your soul mine. Your soul will be handcuffed and chained to mine, belonging to me for eternity. You will be my servant, and must obey my every order… Are you ready to sacrifice your freedom for Yoh's life?"_

_Anna looked back at Yoh, who shook his head, not wanting Anna to make such sacrifice. But at the moment she didn't care what he said. So she just sighed and looked back at the onmyouji:_

"_Fine." _

"_But that's no fun." Hao frowned. "It's such a big decision, how can you decide so easily?"_

"_I'll sacrifice my freedom for him."_

"_He is not worth it." _

"_He is." _

"_Fine, I guess…" Hao sighed "I'll give you one more chance to think about it overnight." The Spirit of Fire appeared once again, behind him "And to make sure Yoh won't get any better and that he won't influence your decision."_

_The Spirit of Fire then grabbed Yoh, and Hao climbed in his hand and with a huge flame, the Spirit of Fire along with the twins, disappeared._

"_Anna, are you sure you want to go with Hao?" Kino asked, after Anna explained the situation. _

"_I am." Anna answered, not hesitating "Yoh is the only one that can defeat Hao. We can't let him die. I haven't given up yet, I'll find a way to free myself from Hao. I was reading a book yesterday about shaman spells, there must be something helpful there."_

_Anna then stood up and went upstairs, going to start her research. The reaction of the families were exactly what she expected. Keiko started crying. Knowing that her son was dying, and that the person responsible for it was her other son just broke her down. Anna knew she was a strong person, and that she did agree to kill Yoh and Hao long ago, but inside she just wished she could have a normal family, with Mikihisa and the two twins she was pregnant with. Anna knew that sometimes she wished she never had had Yoh and Hao, that it would have been two boys, this way she would never have to through this mess. That was one of the reasons why Anna was not such a big fan of her in the first place. Mikihisa was trying to comfort his wife, not showing any emotions of his own. Yohmei and Kino were angry, but tried to find a solution for it logically. They knew Yoh better than Mikihisa and Keiko, and didn't know what to expect from the outcome. Yoh loved Anna, they didn't know what he would do if Anna became Hao's servant, and if in the end the two had to fight against each other._

_When Anna arrived in her room, Anna went to her desk and picked up the book she was trying to read before she told Yoh about their trip. She spent about an hour before finally finding the spell Hao had told her about. There were a lot of details. She read each one paying close attention, highlighting some parts and marking some pages. She even ripped off a part of the text, knowing that it would be useful later on._

"_The rest is with you, Yoh." Anna said, closing the book and lying down on her futon, ready to sleep, knowing she wouldn't be able to see Yoh for a long time._

_Meanwhile, the twins couldn't sleep either. Yoh was thinking about the proposition Hao made earlier, and Hao not being able to rest because of Yoh's thoughts, that were invading his mind._

"_If you have something to ask me, do it."Hao said, breaking the silence._

"_What are you going to do to her?" Yoh asked a second later._

"_I'm going to make her my servant."_

"_But you're not going to marry her, right?" not that it made him feel better knowing she would have to be Hao's servant… But he also didn't want her to be forced to marry him._

"_No." Hao answered "She will chose when we get married, I'm not going to force her."_

_Yoh looked at his brother serious._

"_She is not going to want that, Hao."_

"_Yes she will." Hao answered._

_Yoh sighed. No point discussing that with Hao._

"_Hao…" he called._

"_Yes?"_

"_Do you have any friends?"_

"_I don't." Hao answered, his voice no longer confident, carrying sadness now "Matamune was my only friend."_

"_Matamune is a great friend" Yoh smiled "He helped me save Anna's life when we first met."_

"_Is that why he disappeared?" Hao asked._

"_Yup." He answered "And I'll bring him back."_

_Hao stayed silent._

"_Do you want to be my friend?" _

"_What for? I don't need any friends" Hao answered coldly, a smirk on his lips. "All I need is to defeat the humans."_

_Yoh sat down, with difficulty._

"_You said Matamune was your friend. Wouldn't it be nice to feel like you have someone to trust?"_

"_Even with my past, you would like to be friends?" Hao asked, already knowing the answer. "Am I not evil?"_

"_No. You can see spirits… People who see spirits can't be evil." Yoh answered naturally._

"_Whatever." Hao shrugged._

"_But…"_

"_That's nonsense Yoh. This friendship thing is the reason why you are weak." Hao said "Now shut up, or I'll burn you alive."_

_The two went to sleep soon after._

_The moon went to sleep, and soon the sun woke up with the Asakura family, Hao, Yoh and Anna. The Asakura family and Anna went to the garden, waiting for Hao and Yoh. When they arrived there, Anna was happy to find Yoh breathing and with a pulse._

_Yoh was also happy with seeing Anna, but not as happy as she was to see him. Just remembering what was about to happen to her made his heart ache. He didn't want Anna to be unhappy. That was the reason why he sacrificed Matamune in the first place, so she could be happy._

"_Did you made your decision, Anna dear?" Hao asked with a smirk. The Spirit of Fire was holding Yoh, so in case Anna refused, Hao would burn Yoh in the same instant, and then take his soul._

"_Yes." She then looked at Yoh, knowing he was hoping she said no "I'll go with you."_

_The Spirit of Fire then let go of Yoh. He fell on his knees, and Anna ran to him, to make sure he was okay. Yoh looked up at her, tears in his eyes. He didn't want her to go. He couldn't let her go. But what could he do now? He was too weak to fight against Hao, and he knew Anna would not back down._

"_Anna…" Yoh said, as he embraced his ex-fiancée. He had to embrace the truth: She wasn't his fiancée anymore. She was now Hao's servant, and it was all his fault. They may never see each other again._

"_Relax Yoh…." Anna said, hugging him back "Remember, everything will turn out all right. There is always a way."_

"_I don't think there is a way out of this, Anna."_

"_There is." The certainty in her voice surprised Yoh "You are going to find a way out of this. You always do."_

"_How…?"_

"_Go to your room." She said, in a low whisper "You'll find a way out of this there."_

"_I'll find a way to see you again in my room?" Yoh asked confused, in his naive way._

"_If you stay in the Shaman Fight, you'll be able to see me again."_

"_Really?" he asked hopeful._

"_Trust me."_

"_I do." Yoh smiled._

"_I hate to interrupt this tearful good bye but you're mine now, Anna." Hao said with a smirk._

_Hao then said some words in a weird language, maybe a language that was already dead, and a spiritual handcuff and chains appeared. They attached themselves to Anna's wrists and the end of the chain was held by Hao. Soon they all disappeared, but Anna knew that they were still there. She was Hao's… Forever._

_Yoh's eyes widen when he saw that. It was the proof he didn't want to see. The thing that proved that Anna was Hao's servant, and no longer his fiancée. The thing that took away Anna's freedom._

_Without another word, Hao grabbed Anna by the arm and dragged her to the Spirit of Fire. Anna never took her eyes off Yoh, and Yoh did the same. They didn't break eye contact until Hao and Anna disappeared with a flame. That was the last time they saw each other. _

_Yoh went to his room soon after, just like Anna had asked him to. On top of his futon was an old large book, the one she was reading when she told him about their trip. It was dusty and the pages were yellow, some were even burned at the edges and some were marked._

_It was a book about Shaman Spell. Soon he understood and opened the book, looking for the marked pages. Anna had done some research about the spell. That's what she meant. There must be a way to free her. _

_There were about 14 pages marked, one with a part ripped off. The book was full of detail, from how to cast the spell to how to free someone from it._

Yoh stood up and went back to his bed. He had won the fight against Horo-Horo, Ren had won the fight against Faust, Hao, obviously, won his fight against Chocolove and Anna won the fight against Lyserg.

The winner of the Shaman Fight would become the Shaman King. That's what they all wanted. That's what Yoh wanted. No, that's what Yoh needed. Only two people can free someone from the spell Hao used on Anna. The first person was the one that cast the spell in the first place. In their case, that person was Hao, and he clearly had no desire to free Anna. The second person who could free Anna was the Shaman King.

There were only three battles left. Just three more battles to decide Anna's fate. Three battles in two days. The first battle would be him against Yoh and Ren, during the morning. And the second would be after Yoh's battle… Anna vs. Hao.

**YAY! It's done! XD Soon the fanfic will be over… T_T Yeah, I know, it's sad… I won't have as much free time as I had the past two months, so probably I won't update as quickly as before. ^^" Sorry… I'll try to do as quick as I can, but besides this fanfic I have two others, and two oneshot that I'm working on… Plus someone asked me to translate a fic… ^^" So I'll try my best to update quickly, I can guarantee that it will take less than a month between updates!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Shaman King doesn't belong to me… Yet.**

"I already told you Ren, I'm not going to lose! We may be friends, but I'm not going easy on you!" Yoh said, running towards his friend and attacking him.

"I also want to be the Shaman King, Yoh!" Ren said, standing up "I don't care if you want or not to save your girlfriend. To become the Shaman King is my dream. I'm not going easy on you either!"

The battle between the two friends was close to its end. Yoh was winning so far. He trained hard the past three years and during the battle was when he could feel the difference. Not that Ren didn't train. No, in fact, he trained very hard, like always. But Yoh was training for something besides his dream. He was training for Anna.

"I'm going to become the Shama King, Ren… And then I'm going to free Anna!" Yoh yelled, before attacking by front again, hitting Ren once again.

Anna smiled as she saw Yoh end the battle. She had never seen him so determinate to do something before.

"My brother is such a fool." Hao said with a smirk "He doesn't know it will be impossible to free you, Anna dear."

"The Shaman King can free me, Hao." Anna answered coldly, not even looking at him.

"I'm going to be the Shaman King." Hao said, still smirking "And I have no intentions of freeing you."

"You're wrong." She now had a smile "Yoh is going to be the Shaman King. And he is going to free me. You'll see."

Yoh ran again towards Ren, ready for another attack. He gave 75% of his power, enough to make Ren fall, but not to defeat. Ren may be losing, but he was still a strong and determinate shaman. He wanted to free something as well. He wanted to free the world from hate. So he wasn't going to give up that easily.

But Yoh was fighting for Anna… And he already proved on the past that he would do anything for her.

"I trained a lot, Yoh…" Ren said, now ready to attack. "I'm not going to lose!!!"

Yoh was able to avoid the attack easily.

"So did I, Ren." Yoh was serious now "I'm not going to lose Anna, Ren, I'm not!"

Ren smirked.

"I always wondered how you would look like when you are serious." Ren said "Maybe Hao should have taken Anna sooner."

That, obviously, made Yoh angry. When it came to Anna and her situation with Hao, Yoh could get angry pretty easily. That was something that really did scar the young man's life.

He used that anger to attack his friend. The Chinese flew ten feet before hitting his back on the wall of the battle arena, and, against his will, deactivating his over soul.

"The battle is over! The Winner who will fight for the title of Shaman King is Asakura Yoh!" yelled Radim into the microphone.

All of Yoh's friends opened a smile. They were happy for their friend. Now he was one step closer to becoming the Shaman King, freeing Anna and returning to his old self again. Even though they couldn't become the Shaman King and make their own dreams come true, they still couldn't help but be happy for Yoh.

Anna also smiled. She loved seeing the progress her lover had made. It was also wonderful to see him gasping for air, hurt, but still smiling, proud of himself, proud of being able to win that fight. What made it so difficult wasn't the fact that Ren was a strong shaman, but the fact that they were friends. That was one of Yoh's best victories. She was so proud of him.

Yoh ran to his friend and offered him a hand of help.

"Are you alright, Ren?" Yoh asked, after he helped the Chinese stand up.

"Yeah… I'm fine." He said, obviously irritated.

"You don't sound ok."

"That's because I lost. I hate admitting it, but I lost to you." A pause "God, I hate admitting it."

Yoh just laughed.

"Tonight, we're going to have the battle between… What?" Radim looked up when he felt a drop of water falling on the side of cheek.

Soon after another drop fell. And another, and another. They increased in number and velocity, soon turning into a heavy rain.

"How can it be raining under the water?" asked Horo-Horo, looking up.

"The people from this continent were more advanced than you can imagine." Hao answered "The machines they created could copy natural events of Earth's. But that you must already know."

"Yes… But it's raining under the water!"

"You idiot!" Anna yelled, not caring if she was hurting his feelings "Those machines can copy this kind of things, including the rain!"

"But why are they making it rain?" asked Kanka, looking at Anna confused.

"The Patchs have no control over this machines." Hao answered, looking up, letting the rain wet his face "They don't know how they operate, so they just let it run."

"Attention all Shamans!" Chief Goldva called, "Because of the rain, Anna and Hao's battle will be postpone to tomorrow night!"

Anna smiled. Thank God for the rain. Now she had enough time to go on with her plan.

"How about we find all eat lunch together, then?" Yoh asked smiling. He was finding the rain quite refreshing.

"I think that's a great idea!" Lyserg said, smiling.

"Yes, that would be great!" Manta smiled.

"Let me get this straight… You want me to celebrate my defeat!" Ren laughed bitterly "I'm not going…"

Saying that, Ren turned his back on his friends and walked away. He couldn't believe he lost to Yoh! That was unforgivable! He trained his entire life to become the Shaman King and lost to Yoh… _Again!_

But what he hated the most was the fact that even though he lost to Yoh, even though he couldn't be the Shaman King, he was still happy. He saw his dear friend suffering and honestly, he couldn't take it anymore… He wanted his friend to be happy again.

"You're coming also, right?" Yoh asked, looking at Anna.

"We're both going, little brother." Hao said, smirking.

They all went to the restaurant on the building. Each ordered something different. Lyserg ordered an English dish, Chocolove a hamburger, Faust asked for an American dish, even though he usually preferred food from his own contry, Hao, Yoh, Manta and Anna for a traditional Japanese meal. Horo-Horo ordered something he used to eat when he was little, and that's when the conversation started;

"You grew up in the forest, right Horo-Horo?" Manta asked, looking at the ainu.

"Not really. I was raised in the lands of the Ainus. It's not a forest, but it's surrounded by nature."

"Sounds like a nice place for a kid to grow." Hao said, smiling. Nature… If only the world had the amount of nature it had when he was a kid.

"Kanka saw Anna's childhood, right?" Yoh asked, looking at the spirit curious.

"Only up until she was abandoned." She answered.

Anna then read Yoh's thoughts, and her eyes went wide in shock. She couldn't believe Yoh would not do that. She had to stop him before he asked that question.

"Kanka, why don't you tell us a bit about Anna's childhood?" Hao asked smirking.

"Of course" the ghost girl answered smiling.

"I hate you." Anna said to her master.

"Please, start the story Kanka." Hao said, still smirking.

"Well… Anna was not like most kids." Kanka started, ignoring Anna's sarcastic comment about 'what made her different? The reishi or that she could see ghosts?' "She didn't spend all day dreaming about something."

"That's sad..." Yoh said, pouting "Were you unhappy, Anna?"

"Yes." Anna answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "My parents were idiots. They were always ignoring me, looking at me with hate. Because I wanted to know what they thought about me I acquired the reishi."

"Your parents hated you that much?" Lyserg asked, looking at her with pity. Even though his parents died when he was young, he remembered he had a loving family, where they accepted each other's differences and loved each other.

"Yes. They were normal humans after all. It was only natural." Anna shrugged.

"Humans?!" Horo-Horo asked surprised. "I didn't know they could have shaman kids."

"They can." Anna answered shrugging "Just look at me, Chocolove and Ryu. Our parents were humans."

"But your parents made your life a living hell." Hao said, looking at her with a smile "Humans are always like that, Anna… Don't you want to kill them? Revenge is always sweet you know."

"No." Anna answered "I tried to forget all those bad memories but…"

"The more you tried to forget those painful memories, the more you relieved those experiences. They stay even more fresh, as if they happened only a few minutes ago." Hao has a distant look on his eyes. "The best thing to do is let them fade away naturally. I can say from experience."

"You have memories like that as well, Hao?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Of course I do." Hao answered, smiling again. "Everyone does. Lyserg wants to forget the night his parents died. Chocolove wants to forget the people he killed."

"But what about you?"

"A memory from 500 years ago." Hao had a sad smile now. "The day Matamune killed me. I felt betrayed by my only friend… I wish I could forget that feeling."

_Matamune… Why didn't I think of that?! _Anna thought, standing up and walking away, without bothering to say a word.

"Anna, where you're going?" Yoh asked, looking at the young woman leaving.

"I need to do some things… Cancel my order." She answered, still walking away.

Anna ran up the stairs and entered the hallway where their rooms were. She passed by Lyserg, Chocolove, Faust, Ren, Manta and Horo-Horo's room. She arrived at the end of the corridor, finding her room, that was in between the room of each Asakura twin. They had given her the room that was close to the person she loved the most but wasn't allowed to see, and the person who she hated the most, but was forced to serve. Life was really ironic.

She went inside her room and saw all of her books. Good thing Hao allowed her to bring them with her. She would need them. Anna had a small idea of what she could do, but would need to do a lot of research.

She sighed. Good thing she ripped that page off the book and kept it.

It was already dawn, and everyone was sleeping. Everyone except the blond itako. She was awake for hours now, and wouldn't go to sleep until she found what she wanted. Lucky her, half of her research was over… Now she only needed to complete the other half.

But right now, instead of being in her room, she was in front of her ex-fiancée's door. She couldn1t believe she had to ask him that that early in the morning. She didn't expect to be over with so soon. Actually, Anna thought she would spend a lot of time doing that part of the research, and would only have to ask Yoh for this in the morning.

She finally knocked.

"hum…? Anna-chan?" she heard a sleepy Yoh asking, opening the door and rubbing his eye "What ya doing 'ere?"

"I need to ask you a favor." She answered, trying to push the thoughts about how cute he looked out of her head.

"What favor?" he asked confused.

"Matamune's necklace… Do you still carry it with you?" she looked at him anxiously.

"Yeah… Why?"

"I need to borrow it. I'll give it back before the battle."

"O-Ok." Yoh answered unsure, giving her the necklace he was wearing at that moment. "Why do you need it, Anna?"

"You're going to know soon." She answered smiling slightly, and giving Yoh a quick peck on the lips "Good Night."

She didn't see Yoh blushing and smiling, like a preteen who just had his first kiss.

"Good Night Anna."

The sun came and went fast, and before anyone knew it was the time for the battle. The rain had stopped and now the machines copied the beautiful night sky, full of shinning stars. They seem to have a special shine tonight… Almost as if they also wanted to watch the battle.

"And now…" Radim started yelling into the microphone "The fight between Kyouyama Anna and Asakura Hao!" he looked from one to another "Ready… Set… And FIG…"

"You don't need to even start the battle, Radim." Hao said, with a smirk. "Anna is my servant. And I'm ordering her" he looked at her "to quit."

"Too bad…" Anna said, smirking as well. "But tonight, I won't be obeying you, _Master._"


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

**Yeah… Anyone can control Takei force him to give me the rights of Shaman King? If not, then it's still not mine.**

"What do you mean, Anna dear?" Hao asked, walking closer to the itako.

"We're going to fight, Hao." Anna said, a small smile forming on her lips. Finally she would be able to fight that jerk. "You really should pay more attention to your spells. I was studying the entire time"

"Impressive." Hao smiled "The Asakura Family chose a great fiancée for my brothers. A girl with good looks, skills and a mind of her own."

"Shut up and get ready to fight."

"FIGHT!" yelled Radim.

As soon as he said that, Hao made his over soul Kurobina and Anna shook her 1080, making Zenki and Goki appear in front of her. Both had a determinate look on their faces, but none of them were going to give their all in that battle. Hao didn't want to hurt Anna that much, and Anna… She knew that if she gave her all, her life would be in great danger.

Hao was the first one to attack. Anna shook her 1080, moving first up right and then down left, commanding one of the Shikigamis protect her and the other to attack the Onmyouji.

"Nice attack." Hao smiled "Too bad it was not enough."

"You couldn't hit me either!" Anna yelled, panting a little bit "And that wasn't even a strong attack!"

"You're right." Hao nodded "It wasn't… So why are you so tired already?"

"Quiet!" she yelled, attacking him again.

It was true… Anna had used very little energy on those attacks, yet she was already tired. Why? What was going on? She would never get so tired so easily… There was something wrong. But what, Yoh didn't know.

Hao tried to attack once more, and Anna quickly escaped, but this time, instead of taking the chance and attacking him, she just waited for his next move.

Damn it. Anna didn't thought it would use that much energy. She knew it was going to be hard to fight against her master, but be so tired that fast…! That wasn't good. She needed a plan. Maybe it would be better to just dodge his attacks for now.

"I'm a little curious Anna." Hao said, attacking her once more "How come you can disobey my orders?"

"Research." She smirked, defending herself with Zenki once more, which caused him to get seriously hurt.

With another movement of the 1080, Anna was able to fix Zenki, but with the high cost of some of her energy. This fight would be way harder than she originally thought. She couldn't afford to keep fixing her Shikigamis, neither could she keep attacking him. She needed to wait for the right time to put her plan into action.

Time went by and the fight continued. Anna didn't attack Hao once. But he didn't need to conserve his energy, attacking Anna at every chance he got. He wanted to end the battle quickly. He knew she was planning something. If she needed to save her energy and was still trying to fight, than there was something going on. She obviously had some trick up her sleeve, a trick that could make her win this battle.

So he needed to end it quickly. The longer they fought, the closer the chances of Anna winning were. And if Hao lost, than the next fight would be between Yoh and Anna. No doubt Anna would disobey his orders again and give up the fight, making Yoh the winner and the new Shaman King.

And he couldn't have that, now, could he?

So the fight went on, Hao attacking and Anna on defending.

"You know something, Hao?" Anna asked, breaking the silence of the fight "You're pathetic!"

"What did you say?" Hao asked in disbelief.

"You're pathetic. That's what I think of you." Anna repeated, her voice calm. "Unlike your brother, I don't feel sorry for you just because you don't have any friends. You are just a spoiled child. You think you can do anything you want. Taking me as your servant is the proof."

"Your point, Anna dear? If you're trying to upset me with words, you're not doing a very good job." His voice had a hint of amusement.

"Do you really think Asano Ha would like to see you like that?"

When he heard that name, Hao's eye went wide. No one knew about her. No one knew about Asano Ha, about his mother. Oh, how much she missed her… A thousand years went by since the last time he saw her, since he started hating humans.

Oh, Asano Ha… How much he missed her. When he remembered the times he spent with his mother, Hao's eyes got filled with tears. She was so beautiful, so kind… He was so happy when she alive. And no matter how many memories he had of her beautiful smile, every time he remembered her his thoughts would lead him back to that hateful day, to the scene of the fire burning down the house, with his mother still inside. Why?! Why did they do that to her? Just because she was different? Because they thought she was demon? Oh please! She was the closest thing to an angel!

He hated those filthy humans. He hated them for what they did to his mother! He swore to avenge her death, and no one would stand on his way.

"Asano Ha was your mother. And what those humans did to her was a horrible thing. But I don't think she would have liked to see you like that, because honestly, it's pathetic." Anna said "You come back to life every 500 years just so you can try and become the Shaman King so you can avenge her death. You kill without mercy. But kill humans will really bring her back?" Anna continued to look at Hao, who hadn't reacted yet "No, it won't. And you know it. But you know what else? You are just a spoiled brat who won't give up until he gets what he wants."

Anna took a deep breath and smiled.

"But you won't be able to kill the humans during this Shaman Fight! Because we are going to stop you!" Anna said, shaking her 1080 "This fight is over! I know how to defeat you! I know what attack to use! The winner will be decided now!"

Yoh smiled and looking the fight. Anna was so smart. Now he understood her strategy. Anna found a way to disobey Hao's orders. And now during the fight she made him use good part of his powers, while she didn't waste any energy. She also figured out his Achilles' _heel, and waited until the moment when Hao was tired to say those things. Also during the fight she observed his attacks and noticed where she could attack him and defeat him. Hao was in shock, not being able to react after Anna started talking about his mother. Plus he is tired. Anna is not. With all of that, Anna had a chance of winning with this next attack._

"That's Anna alright." Yoh smiled "My Anna-chan is amazing."

Anna than attacked Hao, with all her power. Hao also tried to attack, but because of the shock his wasn't as strong as it could have been. The impact of the two furyokus meeting caused one big explosion, surrounding the arena with smoke and fire. It was impossible to see through it, impossible to see the winner.

But after a while the smoke started to become clearer, less dense. The shamans were on opposite sides, their backs facing. Neither had an over soul.

Everyone went silent, waiting to know the winner.

Suddenly, Anna's knees started to shake, and she fell forward, unconscious.

**Yay! Crappy chapter! XD Sorry if you didn't like it… This fanfic is coming to an end… Please, review! =D**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**I found a lawyer… But now I need to find Takei-sensei… Until then, Shaman King is not mine… For now!**

**Oh! A reminder: I have been trying to keep her out of the spot light, but there was a reason why I used Kanka in this fanfic… Someone had to see what Anna was doing and needed to tell the others. You'll see what I mean this chapter.**

Yoh was sitting by Anna's bed, at the Patch Hospital. He hadn't left her side since the battle. He promised himself that. _I will not leave her side! Not until she wakes up!_ That's what he said when they took her there.

Anna lost the battle. When the smoke got less dense, Anna fell unconscious. And she didn't wake up. It's been five days since the battle, and Anna's still there unconscious. Yoh had been delaying his battle against his brother.

"Yoh…" Lyserg called from the door "Chief Goldva said he could delay the battle no longer. You'll have to fight tomorrow."

"But… Anna…" Yoh then looked at Anna's face, holding her hand "She is not awake yet…"

"I know but…" Lyserg came closer to his friends, also looking at Anna "Chief Goldva said that if you don't fight tomorrow, Hao will be the new Shaman King."

Yoh only continued to stare at Anna's face, without saying anything. He didn't want to leave her side. He really didn't. He wanted to be there if something happened. What if her condition got worse? What if she woke up? He wanted to be there for her.

But he couldn't let Hao become the new Shaman King. No, if he did that, humans would die and… And Anna would forever be his servant.

"Alright…" Yoh said, in a low voice, looking at Anna's face. "I'll fight him tomorrow."

"I'm going to tell Chief Goldva that." Said Lyserg, leaving the room.

"Kanka." Yoh called, not moving.

"Yes…?" the ghost of the girl appeared with a sad look in her face.

"During the fight Anna only used weak attacks. But even so she got really tired." He finally looked at the ghost. "Why?"

"Do you remember that lunch after your fight against Ren? Anna left early. She wanted to study before the battle."

"Study?"

_Flash Back_

"_Anna__? Why are you still awake? You should go to bed, you'll have to fight Master Hao tomorrow." Kanka said as she entered the room, finding Anna wide awake, looking at some old books._

"_I'm studying so I can survive the battle against that jerk!" she then looked up "And don't call him 'master'!"_

"_Why studying__? Wouldn't training be better?"_

"_No Kanka." Anna answered as she closed the book she was reading and showing the cover to Kanka, which had the words Shaman Magic in big fancy letters "Hao cast that Shaman Spell that made me his servant. I have to obey his every order."_

"_Yes, I know." She blinked "But why study?"_

"_Many shamans used that spell before, wanting servants. And there are only two people who can free the Ryoshuu."_

"_The what?"_

"_The Servant. Or prisoner. Whatever you prefer to call it, Ryoshuu is the correct term." She opened the book again to the page she was reading "In this case, that's me. And the only two people who can free me are the Shaman King and the Shukun, in this case, Hao."_

"_Ok…. But why study?" she asked once again, earning an annoyed look from Anna._

"_I'm getting there." Her tone carried no patience at all "Like I said, many shamans used this spell before. About 700 years ago, a Ryoshuu used some sort of potion to free herself from master temporally."_

"_How is that possible? How was she able to free herself without the Shaman King or without her masters permission? Is it really possible?!"_

"_No."_

"_But you said she did it!"_

"_Were you listening? I said temporally! That means that for a short period of time she could disobey his orders." Anna explained, turning the page of the book "She created some sort of potion and spilled in the chains, leaving it weakened, so she could disobey his orders."_

"_I get it now! You want to create the potion so you can disobey Hao's orders and fight against him!" Kanka smiled, finally understanding. "That's why you're studying!"_

"_Unfortunately is not that simple." Anna said "Like I said, the chain is only weaker than before. It doesn't disappear, completely freeing the Ryoshuu, it only allows him to disobey the Shukun."_

"_Ok…"_

"_Every order the Ryoshuu disobeys, the chain will suck the equivalent amount of furyoku to repair itself. In other words, if I disobey a small demand, the amount of furyoku that I will lose will be small. If I disobey a big demand, like killing someone, the amount furyoku I'll lose will be big."_

"_So… Every time you attack Hao in the fight you will lose the amount of furyoku needed for the attack and the amount the chain will drain out of you." _

"_That's right." Anna nodded "This will go on until the chain goes back to the way it was originally."_

"_But Hao is really strong! If you waste that much furyoku, you'll die!"_

"_That's exactly why I'm not going to attack him many times." She answered "Knowing Hao he will try to end the battle quickly. If I only evade the attacks, I won't be disobeying any orders, so I'll save energy. I'll also observe how he attacks, so I can figure out his weak point."_

"_In other words: You will save energy, wait until Hao is tired and attack him on his weak point." Kanka repeated, in a simpler way "That's a bit hard… What if it doesn't work?"_

"_That's why I'm going to find out Hao's weakness."_

"_But you said you would do that during the battle!"_

"_Yes, but I meant in a battle, a spot he couldn't defend very well, an attack that he would have more difficulty with." Anna explained "What I mean by his weakness, is something that will make him hesitate. Or that will make him lose control. Either way, something that will help me during the battle. I know he hesitates when he sees children and parents together. But that's too general… I need to know more, so I can use it against him… And with luck, survive. With even more luck, win."_

"_But how will you be able to do all that in time for tomorrow's battle?"_

"_That's where you help me." Anna looked at Kanka and handed her a list of ingredients' "Find this. There should be a few things here in Mu… If not just go to the land and bring it here in time for the battle."_

"_But… You still haven't explained to me how you'll find out Hao's weakness."_

"_Simple." She smiled sadly "I'll just ask help from an old friend."_

"So… Anna already expected to lose the battle." Yoh said as he finished hearing the story "Her plan was incredible… Too bad Hao was too strong."

"Yes…"

"But how did she know about this potion?" Yoh asked, looking at Kanka.

"By her bed there was this small piece of paper, probably from an old book. She ripped off I think… I don't know where she got it from though."

But Yoh did. Of course, the missing part from that book from three years ago. The one that Anna first used for research, while Yoh was with Hao. She probably read that there was a way to be temporally free and, knowing she couldn't do all the research at that moment, took that small piece of information with her.

Incredible. She has been planning everything since that time.

But she lost… Even so, she gave Yoh great clues to how to defeat Hao. He would have to do that tomorrow. Even though Hao was much stronger than Yoh, he would have to win. He would have to use what Anna found out and defeat his twin. Somehow…

"But I don't know all that!" Yoh said, suddenly panicking "Anna gave me clues, but I still don't know them! Hao has a weakness, but I don't know many details about his mother! And I know he has a weak point during battle, but I don't know what it is! How can I win?! "

"Relax Yoh. Everything will be alright." Kanka said, smiling.

"Yeah but… I still don't know how to get that information in time for tomorrow…"

"And that's why we are here, Yoh-san." Said a voice very familiar to Yoh.

**Ok, sorry if this chapter was confusing! But here it is! Some explanation! Next chapter is the battle between the twins! Yay!!! And guess what? Four more chapters and this fanfic is over!!! Actually, just three and an epilogue. I hope you liked it! ^^ And now you see why I needed Kanka. I needed someone to explain what happened to Anna and all those details about Hao's spell. But to do that it needed to be someone who would always be with Anna, and no one else fitted that description, that's why I used her… Though from now on she will go back to the shadows! Reviews!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Still can't find Takei, so… Yeah, not mine.**

_Kimi ni todoke northern lights..._

Asakura Yoh was at the stadium, a serious expression taking over his usually calm face. His headphones were resting at his neck. He was wearing a battle suit that was just like the one Anna made for him so long ago, though it was not the same. That one didn't fit the shaman any longer. He held Harusame with his right hand and Futsu no Mitama in his left hand, ready to fight.

Asakura Hao was on the other side of the stadium, in front of his brother. He had his usual smirk, victory was obviously his. His strategy was ready: He was going to kill Yoh.

Hao knew he had that right, he could kill Yoh. Yoh was nothing more than a part of him. A part that was separated, that was weak at first and insignificant. But now he was strong, way stronger than Hao could ever imagine. He wanted that power. He would kill Yoh and absorb his soul. After all, Yoh wouldn't be there if it wasn't for him.

It's only fair that he takes back the life that is rightfully his.

"Ready? 3... 2... 1... FIGHT!!!" The judge yelled, officially starting the fight between the Asakura Twins.

_Hikisakareta futatsu no kokoro  
Yukiba no nai omoi ga mune o shimetsuke  
Naze kono toki ni deatta no ka to  
Toikakeru sube wa  
Saeta kage ni chiru_

Yoh activated his over soul Byakko at the same time Hao activated Kurobina. A second later Hao was already attacking his younger twin and Yoh, already expecting that, evaded the attack just as fast.

"Very good, little brother." Said Hao "You are really strong now… Too bad you'll never get to use it."

"I trained for this battle for three years, Hao." Yoh had a serious voice, one he almost never used "I'll win this battle!"

"That's what we'll see." Hao said, still with a smirk and attacking his other half once again.

This time, Yoh couldn't escape Hao's attack, it was completely unexpected. The impact of the attack was so strong that Yoh hit his back on the stadium wall. He stood up and looked at his brother, breathing hard. He knew this was going to be a difficult battle. But even so, he would fight until the end.

"I'm going to win this battle, Yoh." Hao said "I'm going to kill you and take your soul back!"

_Yuragu koto nai  
Tsuyosa na do naku  
Susunda saki ni  
Motomeru kotae ga aru_

Yoh was hit again, but this time, instead of flying toward the wall, he stood up and attacked Hao, missing by 1 meter.

"Damn it…" he said under his breath when he noticed he missed Hao by so much. He was already gasping for air and it was hard to stay standing on his feet. Hao's attacks hurt way more than he ever imagined. But maybe he was losing, not because Hao was too strong and he was too weak… Maybe he just couldn't concentrate. Because of Anna, who was still in her coma. He was too worried to keep his head in the battle.

Hao smiled and attacked his brother once more. He knew Yoh couldn't concentrate because of Anna, and was ready to use that to his advantage. Killing Yoh while he was like that would be a lot easier.

"What's the problem, little brother? Can't fight?" Hao asked, attacking his brother once more, one that Yoh cannot recover from. "That's what it looks like."

_Ai mo tsumi mo yume mo yami mo  
Ima subete mini matotte  
Kimi no chikara boku no kokoro  
Kasanariatta shunkan  
Nani ga umareru...  
Do you believe in destiny?_

Ren, Horokeu, Chocolove, Lyserg and Faust were all watching the battle. None of them were cheering for Yoh. In fact, they didn't believe he was going to win. Lyserg was already preparing a plan for when Hao became the Shaman King again. Faust was getting ready to run to the stadium and heal his injuries. Ren, Horo-Horo and Chocolove were ready to attack the Onmyouji in case he tried to kill their friend.

"How long do you think Yoh will stay up?" The ainu asked worried.

"If things keep up like that, not long." Faust answered, biting his lower purple lip.

"I don't understand! Yoh is not even trying!" Lyserg commented.

"What are you talking about?! Of course he is trying!" Yelled Horo-Horo "Didn't you see that attack that he missed? He is exhausted! That's why he can't fight! It's obvious that long haired bastard is stronger than we thought!"

"Wrong Horo-Horo." The British boy corrected. "Can't you see? Yoh is stronger than that! He is not concentrating! Not even in the first Shaman Fight would Yoh lose to Hao like that. If he'd give his all, he wouldn't be so hurt."

"So there's still hope." Ren said, a sign of relief in his voice. "If Yoh gives his all, he can still win."

"Yeah but it'll be kind of hard, don't you think?" asked the comedian. "I mean, Yoh gets tired by the second. It'll be hard for him to make a comeback if he is really tired."

"Then what can we do?" Horo-Horo asked.

"Cheer for our friend." Answered Ren, looking at the stadium.

_Usu midori-iro no maboroshi ga  
Kono hoshi no kanashimi o yasashiku tsutsumu  
Onaji unmei o tadoru ka to  
Haru ga kanata kara  
Uta koe ga hibiku_

Manta wished he could be with his friends watching the battle. But he couldn't. No, he had promised his best friend that he would stay by Anna's side since he couldn't.

Yoh hadn't left Anna's side since she lost conscious five days ago. Actually, he wanted to stay by her side until she woke up, but Chief Goldva couldn't delay the battle any longer. If Yoh didn't show up to the battle, Hao would win by default. And Yoh couldn't let that happen. No, letting Hao win was not a possibility. So he asked his human friend to look after Anna while he fought. He wanted someone to be there for her, in case she woke up.

"I wish I could be there… I'm so worried about Yoh." Manta said, to no one in particular.

"Relax, he'll be fine." Kanka said, appearing behind the short teen.

"But… I still wish I was there! I know that Yoh must trust me a lot since he asked me to take care of Anna but…"

"You still wanted to cheer for him." Kanka guessed with a smile.

"Yes."

"Relax, you can cheer for Yoh from here." Kanka commented with a big smile"Besides, Yoh will win!"

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say he has a secret weapon."

_Akirameru ni wa  
Mada hayasugiru  
Ori kasanatta  
Hikari ni kibou no sete_

Hao was losing his patience. He knew his brother wasn't giving his all. At first he was fighting badly because he couldn't concentrate but now he was letting Hao hit him. He was losing on purpose! That was really making Hao lose his patience.

And the worst part was that Hao couldn't read Yoh's mind.

He had no time for games! He would finish that… Now!

Hao wasn't the only one who noticed Yoh was getting hit on purpose. That didn't go unnoticed by the British shaman. Like his father, Lyserg is smart and observant, the most intelligent of the group. That's why he was the first one to notice the details of the battle and, always before telling his friends, analyzed what he saw. It never took long for him to figure out what others were thinking, or the perfect plan to solve a certain problem.

This time, however, he couldn't figure what Yoh was planning.

"I don't understand." He said.

"What don't you understand?" Horo-Horo asked.

"Yoh… He is getting hit on purpose." The other answered, still looking at the battle confused.

"What?" Chocolove asked.

"It's been a while since I noticed. Yoh is letting Hao hit him." Lyserg answered "And that's not all! Hao's attacks are no longer having any affect on Yoh!"

"What?! Can't you see how tired he is?!" the ainu asked, not understanding what his friend was saying.

"You sure about that, Lyserg?" Ren asked, looking at him. In some way, he was relieved… Knowing that Hao's attacks weren't hurting his friend was a big relief.

"Yes!" he confirmed "He is pretending Hao's attacks are hurting when actually, it doesn't! And he is also giving weak attacks on purpose!"

"But why is he doing that?" Faust asked.

"That's what I don't understand." Lyserg answered, looking at the battle with great attention, as Yoh fell back once again "But he has a plan…"

_Soshite itsuka todoku yume o  
Ima shizuka ni kanji you  
Kimi no ketsui boku no mayoi  
Meguriai ga sashishimesu  
Michi o shinjite  
I live with facing my destiny._

"Enough Yoh!" Hao said, looking at his brother coldly "What are you trying to do? Pretending this all is hurting you. And such weak attacks… What are you thinking?"

Yoh smiled, standing up.

"Guess I'm just not a good actor." Yoh said laughing "That's fine, it doesn't change anything. You're right. The attacks weren't hurting me at all. Well, at first they were, but not anymore. After I started paying attention to things, your attacks stopped hurting. I wasted no energy!"

"I know that." Hao smirked "But I didn't waste any energy either. If I want… I can kill you right now!"

"I know that." Yoh smiled "But you won't do that."

"How do you know?"

"You are curious. You want to know what I'm planning." Yoh answered "Besides, you can kill me at any time. So why not find out what I'm planning before killing me?"

"Wow… My little brother is smart."

Yoh laughed, not feeling offended.

"Arigatou, Amidamaru. You were great." Yoh said, decreasing the flow of energy on his over soul, before taking a smoking pipe out of his pocket. One that Hao recognized immediately. "Now, rest a little. And come… Matamune!"

**Yes, I'm evil. Yes, I stopped here. XD Sorry it took me so long to translate this chapter, it's been a busy week. ^^" Sorry, I am… Plus, TV Tropes and Fanfics are so additicve. Plus RPGs and Youtube videos and my subcouncious is like "Go write!" and I'm like "As soon as I'm done" and then my mom shows up at the door saying I need to turn off the computer and I noticed that the word document stayed there untouched for hours… So today I told myself "No fics, no RPGs, not TV tropes and no Youtube! Go write!" and I had even less time today so… Sorry, ranting. Either way, we only have 3 more chapters to go! And the song was I used this chapter (and will continue next chapter) is Northen Lights, by Megumi Hayashibara, and it is the second opening from the Anime.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Seriously, do you really think it`s mine yet?**

To say the onmyouji was surprised when he saw his old friend entering the stage would be an understatement. It had been 500 years since the last time they saw each other… And that last meeting wasn't exactly a pleasant memory to Hao. His first and only friend betrayed him was one of the most agonizing experiences he had ever had during all his lives. But even so, he never blamed the Nekomata for what happened. Matamune served the Asakura Family. So it was obvious he would stand by them and destroy their enemy. Even if that person was his former master.

Besides, Hao could feel the guilt inside Matamune's heart.

"Hao-sama…" Matamune said, bowing slightly "It's nice to see you again."

"I'll say." Hao smiled sadly, looking more like Yoh at that point than himself. "Too bad we have to fight against each other, huh?"

"Yes… Unfortunately neither of us changed our minds."

"Yes… Unfortunately."

Matamune looked at his master. Part of him was happy to see him again but the other part… The other part of him was sad that this meeting meant they would have to cross swords once more. He still couldn't forgive himself for what he did to Hao all those years ago. Hao was his master. He rescued Matamune when he was alive, took care of him, and when he died, Hao materialized him, making him a Nekomata. And above everything else… They were friends.

Yoh observed his brother and his first spirit ally quietly, a small smile on his face. It was a big moment, the two needed to catch up a little. 500 years is a lot, right? Even for those who have been around for a thousand of them. Plus, Yoh wanted to save a little bit more of energy. Matamune was an over soul, so he could fight on his own. Amidamaru would still fight with him, they just needed to rest a little bit and form a little strategy. Now Hao would have to fight Yoh with his over soul and Matamune with his own. Together they could beat Hao.

But for now, let them have a nice chat. Yoh himself had a moment like this when he meet the Nekomata again. Too bad Anna wasn't awake to see.

_Soshite itsuka todoku yume o  
Ima shizuka ni kanji you  
Kimi no ketsui boku no mayoi  
Meguriai ga sashishimesu_

_Flash Back: Night before Asakura Hao and Asakura Yoh's battle._

"_But I don't know all that!" Yoh said, suddenly panicking "Anna gave me clues, but I still don't know them! Hao has a weakness, but I don't know many details about his mother! And I know he has a weak point during battle, but I don't know what it is! How can I win?! "_

"_Relax Yoh. Everything will be alright." Kanka said, smiling._

"_Yeah but… I still don't know how to get that information in time for tomorrow…"_

"_And that's why we are here, Yoh-san." Said a voice very familiar to Yoh._

_Yoh recognized the voice, and a second later his head was turned towards the door, his heart beating fast. He couldn't believe his eyes. Matamune… He… He was back!_

"_Matamune… It's really you…"_

"_Anna-san brought me back the night before her battle." Matamune explained. _

"_So that's what she wanted with min –I mean, your necklace." Yoh said, still emotional. His eyes were filling with tears and a smile was forming in his lips. "Knowing her, she probably asked you about Hao's past and that's how she found out about his mother."_

"_Yes, Yoh-san."_

"_That's Anna for you." He said, still smiling._

"_And she also brought me so I could help you defeat Hao-sama, in case she failed." Matamune added._

"_Oh! Yeah, right" Kanka said, looking around "Anna said that in that book over there, see__?__ She said there is an important spell for you to know."_

_Yoh walked towards the book Kanka was referring to and opened. He walked back to his chair by Anna's bed, not taking his eyes out of the book. While he read the introduction, he noticed a few marked pages, two actually. Yoh opened on the first marked page, noticing that the spell marked was the one Anna used to disobey Hao. _

_He couldn't help but smile. Sure, it was an useless for him to know that spell, but Anna knew Yoh well enough that she marked the page, knowing his curiosity would make him look for it. _

_But that wasn't useful now. He could read it later, once he found the other one. _

_When he opened the other marked page, his went wide. Yoh couldn't believe it… Anna was a genius! The spell she found was so powerful! It made impossible for anyone with Reishi to read his mind for 12 hours._

"_I think I can do it… If I use this, Hao won't be able to read my mind, so he won't be able to know my strategy or where I'll attack him." Yoh smiled, his eyes wandering through the page._

"_Yoh-sama." Matamune called._

"_Yes__?_" _he turned to see him._

"_Look." He pointed to a small piece of paper on the floor, that feel from the inside of the book._

"_What's this?" He lowered himself to pick up the paper. It was folded in half, and when he opened, his heart started beating fast for the second time that night._

_It was a note… From Anna:_

"_Dear Yoh,_

_If you are reading this then I lost, and I probably am not awake (or even alive) considering that I'm not explaining this to you. This spell is extremely dangerous. And I mean, extremely dangerous. You need to use half of your furyoku to do it, and if you make one wrong move, you will lose your life. I only want you to use this spell if you are sure that you will NOT die on me. I mean it! If I wake up and you're dead, or I meet you at the afterlife, I swear you won't know the meaning of the words 'Rest In Peace'! _

_I'm serious.___

_Asakura Anna."_

_Yep. That was Anna. Only Anna could make her worry sound like anger. But what made Anna really happy was the fact that she used his last name to sign the note. He knew she was using the necklace, but to know that she already considered herself an Asakura… It made him so happy._

"_So what you're going to do, Yoh-san?" Matamune asked._

"_I'm going to use the spell, it's the only way to defeat Hao." Yoh smiled "I'm pretty sure I'll survive. Only have to take a nap before the battle."_

"_So, what are the ingredients?" Kanka read the ingredients and soon left, I search of them._

"_Matamune…" Yoh looked at the Nekomata "Can you tell me what you told Anna that day?"_

"_I imagine your plan is the same as Anna-san." Matamune said. _

"_Something like that." Yoh answered "My plan is to first make Hao lose some energy. Then I'm going to figure out his weak point and attack him. He won't be able to read my mind so…"_

"_I'll help you." Matamune said "I want… To see Hao-sama again. I think… I need to make amends with our past."_

"_Thanks Matamune." Yoh smiled "But if that's the case then I can't tell you anything else, 'cause Hao will read your mind."_

"_I understand Yoh-san." Matamune nodded "And, about Hao-sama's past."_

"I understand… Then it's that what my little brother did." Said the Onmyouji. "I never thought you could be so smart, Yoh. I imagine that now you'll do the same thing Anna did. You're going to tell me about my mother."

"Wrong Hao." Yoh said, now his over soul activated full power, showing that now, he was going to be serious. "I have to admit that I feel sorry for what happened to you in your past. I wish we could be real friends, so maybe you could be happier… But saying that won't change your wish for revenge. It will only leave you vulnerable, but I don't like to fight like that."

"So why did you ask?"

"I was curious. I wanted to know you better!" Yoh smiled. "Now that I know what happened, I can help you once I defeat you! We can be real brothers maybe."

"So you and Matamune are going to fight with no plan until the end?" Hao asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well… The whole Matamune coming here and the first part of the battle were the plan." He said blinking "There was going to be a second part, but I fell asleep." He laughed "I know your weak point, so now I can defeat you and become the Shaman King!"

"I'd like to see you try, little brother."

And with that, the real battle began.

_Ai mo tsumi mo yume mo yami mo  
Ima subete mini matotte  
Kimi no chikara boku no kokoro  
Kasanariatta shunkan  
Nani ga umareru..._

"I'm not understanding anything! I'm totally lost!" Yelled the ainu shaman angry.

"Like that's a surprise." Ren said. "Yoh, Hao and Kanka planned everything before the battle."

"Yeah, that I get." Horo-Horo answered "But what is up with Hao's mother?"

"That we can't know." Lyserg answered. "It's something Matamune told Yoh-kun and Anna-san."

"So the battle will go on until Yoh defeats Hao." Faust said.

"Or Hao kills him." Ren added.

"If Yoh dies now, then Hao will become the Shaman King and…"

"And all the humans will die." Lyserg completed.

There was silence, and then, all of them heard someone coming through the corridors of the stadium. Thinking it was Manta, some of them turned to the door, waiting to see the little human running towards them, wanting to know what was going on.

But they were wrong. The person who appeared on the door was tall, and had long blond hair. She walked towards them, panting, and leaned in, trying to get a better look, her hand on the whoever was the person at her right, trying to support herself. It was obvious she was not feeling well, and that she had a fever, considering how she was shivering and how she was sweating.

She arrived just in time to see the final attack from each of the twins. Yoh and Matamune attacked Hao and the Onmyouji did the same, all of them using their maximum power. The impact of the over souls made the sand from the stadium rise, blocking the view from the one watching.

"Yoh…" said the girl, biting her bottom lip.

_Do you believe in destiny?_

**YAY!! It's here and this fanfic it's almost over! Not kidding! Next chapter will be the last. And then there is a little epilogue, that I think you will like it. ^^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry the battle scene was taken over by dialogue. Again, this is a translation, at the time I hated doing fighting scenes, so I avoided them by writing dialogues. ^^" **


	16. Final Chapter

**FINAL CHAPTER**

**Yeah… Not mine. I thought by the end of this fanfic I would have the rights but… Damn you Takei, I couldn't buy the rights. T_T**

**Oh, and to let everyone know… This is a translation from a fanfic I wrote WAY before the KZB chapters were even announced (before the interview in a French Anime Convention where Takei said he would continue Shaman King, but said nothing else). So I didn't know the real ending and I didn't know the whole **_**The Shaman King dies**_** thing. **

Three days had already passed since the day the battle between the Asakura Twins ended and the new Shaman King was decided. Now everyone was waiting until the chosen shaman woke up from the death sleep. No one was allowed to leave Mu until he woke up.

During the battle both Yoh and Hao had given their all at the final blow. The impact was so great that dust, smoke and even a few pieces of the floor and walls of the stadium. When the smoke and the dust died down until the Shaman's knees, the audience could see that neither of the twins had an over soul. Just like in Anna's battle, both were tired and bout to faint. The one who could stay standing would be declared the new Savior.

A few seconds passed and nothing happened. A few seconds that seem like an eternity to those who were waiting for the next Shaman King to be decided.

Suddenly Yoh's knees were getting weaker by the second. His eyes slowly closed and he fell forward, unconscious. A smile formed in Hao's lips. He won. Finally, after a thousand years he had won. He was the new Shaman King, and Yoh couldn't do anything about it. He would just have to kill his brother now, and he would have nothing to worry about. Without Yoh the other shamans wouldn't stand a chance, even if they did try to pull off a trick like last time.

But his smile soon disappeared once the smoke reached the ground and he was able to see what was right in front of him.

"But wait, what's that? It looks like Asakura Yoh still has an over soul!" Yelled Radim into the microphone, referring to Matamune, who stood in front of Yoh and fought by his side, even though his reached bellow Yoh's knees.

"I… I Lost?" Hao asked, unable to believe the situation.

"Since the fighter Asakura Yoh still has an over soul, he shall be crowned our new Shaman King!!!"

Anna was the first one to run towards Yoh. With difficulty she helped the her fiancée and now new Shaman King stand up. Finally Yoh was the Shaman King. Finally he could keep his promises… Finally they could be together.

"Anna…" said Yoh, slowly regaining conscious and backing away from Anna a little, so he wouldn't be with his entire weight over her like before, when she was trying to keep him up in his two feet.

"Yoh…!" Anna then hugged him tight. "Thank God, you're ok."

"What… What happened?" Yoh looked around "Did I lose?"

"Lose?" Anna looked at him as if he was an idiot "Yoh, you won!"

"I…Won?" that seemed to make him go back to his senses "Really?"

"Yes." She said "You are the new Shaman King, Yoh."

"The new Shaman King?" he opened a goofy smile "Cool."

Yoh then turned around, to face all his friends. He smiled and waved, and that was enough for all of them to come running towards the couple, ready to congratulate the new Shaman King. Hugs, pat on the heads were everywhere; Yoh was almost fell down with all the celebration. Anna knew that when they had the real party to celebrate Yoh's victory things would be even worse.

Goldva then cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. Yoh turned to them and, slowly, walked forward.

"Shaman King-sama, please follow us. You need to go to sleep to receive the Great Spirit."

"Can't this wait a little?" Anna asked, walking towards them.

"No." Goldva said, shaking his head "We need the Shaman King now."

"But…"

"It's all right, Anna." Yoh said with a smile, turning to the itako and holding her hand, looking into her eyes calmly "I'll be ok. And when I come back, I'll free you. And…" He reached to his pocket and took out the engagement necklace "Here, for you."

Anna smiled. Her fiancée would finally free her. Yes, her _fiancée._ Now that Hao has been defeated Yoh became the Shaman King and the two can be together. Anna could call him her fiancée. She would be free and she would become the Shaman Queen.

"Then let's go." Said Chief Goldva, turning around and walking away, followed by the other Patches. They walked up to two big gates and waited there.

"I'll see you later Anna." Said the new Shaman King, with a smile, kissing his fiancée on the cheek before following the others. The two gates opened and soon Yoh walked towards the inside of it, the doors closing soon after, leaving Anna and the others waiting until the next time it would open again.

Anna didn't leave that place since then. She kept waiting for her Shaman King to come back. Kanka, Amidamaru and Matamune kept her company, and the others came to talk to her and brought her food every now and then.

Hao refused to leave his room. He couldn't take the humiliation of losing to his younger brother. And this time not only did he lose the Shaman Fight, he also lost Anna.

Hao knew he didn't love Anna. Not really. He didn't really care for her like that. Sure, they had the same power and shared the same feelings towards humans, but he didn't love her. He wasn't attracter to her. He just wanted her around because… Because she reminded him of his mother.

A lonely tear made it's way down Hao's face. It wasn't only her looks that reminded him of his mother. No, her personality was so much like Asano Ha's. She was a women everyone feared, just like Anna. But even though she acted like a cold, fearless women she still protected her soon furiously.

She always protected Hao. He must have been one of the few people who saw her smile and to whom she talked nicely, without yelling or getting easily mad. His mother had never yelled at him. Sure, that was that one time she slapped Hao, but that was it. It was when he figured out what was the difference between humans and shamans. He had heard some useless humans calling his mother a monster, a demon. Hao came home that day furious, and told Asano Ha that he would make those filthy humans pay for calling his mother such thing. That's when she slapped him. His mother told him that it would not make things better if he hurt those humans. It was then she explained why they were different. She told him that they were special and that the only difference between humans and Shamans was that humans could see ghosts. She also told him humans and shamans should be friends, not enemies. Of course, it was still hard for little Hao to understand all of that, and only when Ohachyou told him the truth did it really make sense. And after what the humans did with his mother, how could Hao ever be friends with them? His mother was a beautiful person who didn't deserve to die the way she did.

Hao could see his mother in Anna. He knew that Anna treated Yoh the same way his mother treated his father. He also knew that when Anna had a son, she would be an extremely over protective mother. The child would see the sweet side of Anna. The side that so far, only Yoh knew.

"But… I'm not giving up." Said the Onmyouji "I'm going to become the Shaman King and avenge my mother."

Anna was still by the gates when she suddenly stood up quickly, turning to look at them. She could feel an enormous amount of Furyouku on the other side of those gates, coming closer and closer. You didn't need to be a genius to know to whom that power belonged. It was the Shaman King's furyouku.

He was coming.

The itako wasn't the only one who noticed the approaching King. All Shamans that were there took notice. And they all came running to where Anna was. All came to welcome the new King.

They were all holding their breaths when the gates opened and Yoh stepped outside. There were not many changes. He still wore the same clothes he did before, only now he had a crown in his head. And now the smile he hadn't showed since Anna was taken away was back.

"Hey guys!" he said, still smiling, his hand up in greeting.

Anna couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. She also couldn't hold back the smile. She was so happy. Yoh's dream had come true. And now they could be together. Now she could finally have peace.

"Since now I'm the Shaman King, I'm ready to do a few things now." Yoh smiled gently, looking at his fiancée "The first thing I'll do as the new King is free Miss Kyouyama Anna from Asakura Hao.

When the Shaman King said that, the handcuff and chains at linked Hao and Anna appeared, and then opened, breaking free from Anna and Hao's wrists. They slowly fell down, but before touching the ground, they dissolved into thin air.

After that Hao decided not to stay to hear the rest. He turned around and started walking away; away from his little brother. Now that he had seen the new Shaman King he had no reason to stay. He could go back to the surface. He didn't need the patchs to go back, he could do it on his own.

"Now that you are free, I'll keep my promise, and break you free from another curse: The reishi." He said, still smiling.

As soon as he said that, Anna's eyes went wide. She couldn't hear anyone's thoughts. She couldn't read their minds. She couldn't read their hearts. All she could hear was her _own_ thoughts and the noise around. She was free. Finally free.

Yoh had kept his promise.

"Now, I want to know if you guys want me to make your dreams come true as well." Yoh then turned to each of his friends.

"If you made _our_ dreams come true it wouldn't mean that much to us, now, would it?" Asked Horo-Horo, smirking. The others than nodded, agreeing with the ice shaman.

"I understand." Yoh nodded, smiling, and then turned sadly to his brother, who was almost out of view "I just wish I could do something for him." He sighed "Well, I have 500 years to find a way to help oni-chan. He may be stubborn, but we're twins. We share some personality traits." He smiled, and then turned to Anna once again. "Now that my first actions as the Shaman King were made…"

He walked slowly towards the itako, and took something she was holding tightly. It was the necklace. Their engagement necklace. Anna turned around, letting Yoh put the necklace on her. After that she turned around, with a smirk.

"Well? Don't you have something to tell me?"

Yoh only laughed.

"Of course." He said, between chuckles "Kyouyama Anna… Will you be my Shaman Queen?"

"What do you think? After all that happened do you really think I would say _no_?" She raised an eyebrow.

"But didn't you just asked me to…?" He then shook his head "Well, I know the answer, but it is always nice to ask, don't you think? Well… Do you?"

" Of course, you idiot." She answered, crossing her arms and not moving. Yoh then hugged her tightly close to him, afraid that if he backed away she would disappear.

But of course she wouldn't. They would be together forever, from this day forward.

**Owari**

**YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! IT'S FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!! THANK GOD!!! NEVER AGAIN SHALL I TRANSLATE A FANFIC!!! ____**

**God, was this ending horrible. _ When I wrote this chapter it was early 2007. When I first published this fanfic it was 6-23-06. So it was some time ago. I had no idea what the ending was and just made this as an ending in my head. It had some reviews in the Portuguese version, so I decided to translate it. ^^" Now reading again I don't like my ending, and feel so bad for leaving Hao like that. T_T Poor Hao-kun. *runs and hugs him* You know I love you, right? Hao-sama!!!**

**Well, this is the ending of Jiyu. And as soon as Silent is over I shall start two other fanfics in english! This time original, no translation. **

**Hope everyone liked it! REVIEW!!!**


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